特定因子诱导多能干细胞

胚胎干细胞由于具有发育上的全能性,被认为是用于移植治疗的最佳来源。然而,由于人的胚胎干细胞直接运用引发免疫排斥以及触及伦理矛盾,人们一直在研发多能干细胞。2006年,多能干细胞的研究有了重大进展。首先,Yamanaka实验室构建用逆转录载体将候选因子导入成纤维细胞,而后检测多能性标志基因的表达。结果发现,四种因子Oct3/4、Sox2、c-Myc以及Klf4的组合产生了表达多能性标志基因才有的抗药性的克隆,意味着细胞获得了多能性。用这种方法筛选的细胞无论在形态和增殖分化能力方面均类似于干细胞,而且表达干细胞标志基因以及在体内外能向三个胚层的细胞类型分化,这种细胞被命名为诱导性多能干细胞(iPS细胞)。进一步,用更严格的筛选基因nanog得到的iPS能够嵌合到生殖系中。而后,运用改进的方法从人的成体成纤维细胞也可以得到iPS细胞。然而,这种方法得到的嵌合体小鼠存在肿瘤形成现象,可能是由于c-Myc逆转录病毒整合到了基因组。通过替代的方法,去掉c-Myc的iPS也能够获得。为了进一步降低肿瘤形成的几率,近来发展了一种不依赖于病毒的方法,用质粒载体作为介质。iPS进一步的研究热点在于安全性以及从更严格的医学角度提高诱导iPS的效率,其分子机理和相关的技术问题也有待解决和克服。     

限定因子诱导胎猪成纤维细胞重编程为多能性细胞

尝试运用限定因子融合蛋白建立猪的诱导多能性干细胞．试验采用Oct4、Sox2、Klf4、c-Myc四种限定因子经慢病毒表达载体系统介导感染猪胎儿成纤维细胞,对表达外源限定因子的猪胎儿成纤维细胞进行培养传代,逐步分离培养出集落边缘界限清晰的细胞克隆,细胞集落生长状态稳定、核型正常、碱性磷酸酶检测为阳性,免疫细胞化学检测显示,Oct4、Nanog、SSEA-1蛋白表达为阳性,体内能够分化形成含有三个胚层的畸胎瘤．结果证实分离培养的细胞克隆为猪诱导多能性干细胞,为进一步完善诱导方案和深入研究应用猪诱导多能性干细胞奠定了基础．     

无饲养层和动物源蛋白的β-地中海贫血诱导多能干细胞系的建立

β-地中海贫血患者因无合适的造血干细胞供体来源从而不得不靠输血维持生命。诱导多能干细胞(iPS)技术为获得患者自身遗传背景的干细胞进行临床治疗开拓了新途径。目前,建立iPS细胞系的过程需要使用小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞作为饲养层和动物源的蛋白成分,因此建立的iPS细胞系存在病原体和动物源蛋白污染的可能性,不能应用于临床。采用目前商品化的TeSRTM2和StemAdhereTMDefined Matrix限定培养体系,利用Oct4、Sox2、Klf4、c-Myc 4个转录因子组装在同一表达载体的可切除的慢病毒感染人β-地中海贫血成纤维细胞,建立了5株无饲养层和动物源蛋白的β-地中海贫血iPS细胞系,这些iPS细胞系具有人胚胎干细胞典型的特征,表达人胚胎干细胞的多能性分子标记,如Oct4、Nanog、Tra-1-60等。在体外分化能够形成拟胚体,在体内分化能够形成含有3个胚层类型细胞的畸胎瘤。     

体细胞重编程为诱导多能干细胞

诱导多功能性干细胞（induced pluripotent stem cells,iPS细胞）是通过导入特定的转录因子（如Oct3/4、Sox2、c-Myc和Klf4等）将体细胞诱导重编程为多能性干细胞,其功能与胚胎干细胞相似.iPS细胞的建立,在生命科学领域引起了新的轰动.目前,iPS细胞的研究领域在转录因子的优化、iPS细胞的筛选、载体的运用、体细胞种类的选择和iPS细胞的应用等方面取得突破进展,但仍然存在致癌性、效率低等一系列急需解决的问题.     

2012年第3期《遗传》封面说明

2006年,日本京都大学的Yamanaka研究组在《Cell》上率先报道了利用逆转录病毒感染技术,把转录因子Oct3/4、Sox2、Klf4和cMyc导入胚胎或成年小鼠的成纤维细胞中,诱导出与胚胎干细胞极为相似的多能性干细胞,并将其命名为诱导多能性干细胞(Induced pluripotent stem cells,iPS细胞)。相较于胚胎干细胞,iPS细胞的生产不需要卵母细胞或早期胚胎细胞,因而不涉及胚胎毁损等伦理问题;此外,利用自体来源的iPS细胞进行移植治疗将可避免异体间的免疫排     

一种获得猪诱导性多能干细胞的新方法

诱导性多能干细胞技术表明,通过过表达4个重编程因子可使体细胞逆转到多能性的状态,为建立更多家畜动物的多能性干细胞系提供了新的方法,如猪、牛、羊等农业动物.莫洛尼氏鼠白血病逆转录病毒载体被广泛应用于小鼠iPS细胞的建系和机制研究上,然而这种病毒只能感染小鼠和大鼠细胞,这限制了它在其他哺乳动物iPS细胞系建立上的应用.本实验采用一种新的逆转录病毒系统,可以高效便捷地从猪成纤维细胞中获得iPS细胞.通过在GP2-293细胞中包装VSV-G蛋白包被的病毒,仅一步感染猪成纤维细胞即可转入4个人源重编程因子（Oct4,Sox2,Klf4和c-Myc）.在添加有碱性成骨因子bFGF的人类胚胎干细胞培养体系中,成功建立6株和人类胚胎干细胞形态极其相似的猪iPS细胞系.这些猪iPS克隆具有较大的细胞核/细胞质比例、边界清晰、细胞呈扁平状等特征.在体外可以分化成拟胚体,注射入免疫缺陷性小鼠体内可以形成畸胎瘤,含有3种胚层类型的组织.     

人诱导性多潜能干细胞(iPS细胞)系的建立

掌握建立人iPS细胞系(induced pluripotent stem cells,iPSCs)的技术,以便为人肿瘤细胞重编程为iPS细胞建立技术平台.在人胚胎干细胞的培养条件下,通过携带Oct4、Sox2、c-Myc、Klf44个混合因子的慢病毒感染人皮肤成纤维细胞(CCD-1079SK细胞),从而诱导成干细胞样的克隆.根据人胚胎干细胞的特性进行如下鉴定:克隆形态、碱性磷酸酶活性、核型和CCD-1079SK细胞来源的克隆拟胚体(embryoid bodies,EBs)形成及分化等.结果显示,在人胚胎干细胞的培养环境中,导入Oct4、Sox2、c-Myc、Klf44个因子的CCD-1079SK细胞产生了一株iPSC克隆,这株iPSC克隆在细胞形态、增殖能力、胚胎细胞特异性表面抗原以及基因表达与人胚胎干细胞相似,此外,iPSC克隆在体外悬浮培养中形成拟胚体并分化成3个胚层.人iPS细胞系的成功建立为利用iPS细胞技术开展肿瘤细胞重编程研究奠定了坚实基础.     

体细胞重编程为诱导多能干细胞的研究

通过逆转录病毒将4个基因(Oct4 、 Sox2、c-Myc和Klf4)导入小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞 (mouse embryonic fibroblast, MEF)中,能诱导形成胚胎干细胞样特性的诱导多能干(induced pluripotent stem, iPS)细胞.人类iPS细胞的成功构建开拓了广泛的应用前景.本文简要综述了 iPS细胞的基因筛选,转导基因的选择以及iPS细胞的表观遗传特性等.     

诱导多能干细胞研究进展

成熟的体细胞过表达转录激活因子Oct4、Sox2、Klf4和c-Myc能够转化为具有多能性的干细胞,称为诱导多能干细胞。类似于胚胎干细胞,诱导多能性干细胞具有自我更新和多向分化潜能性两个主要特征。同胚胎干细胞相比,诱导多能干细胞不仅能够为以细胞替代治疗为核心的再生医学提供无限的细胞来源,而且有望解决胚胎干细胞临床开发面临的伦理道德及免疫排斥问题。从诱导多能干细胞技术的建立、重编程的机理及其在临床中的应用几方面作简要综述。     

转录因子与诱导型多能干细胞

小鼠的成纤维细胞通过转染四种转录因子（Oct3／4、Sox2、c-Myc和K1F4）可以被诱导转变成类似胚胎干细胞的多能性干细胞,称之为诱导型多能干细胞（induced pluripotent stem cell,iPS）,这种多能干细胞在细胞形态、增殖速率、致瘤性、基因表达以及形成嵌合小鼠的能力上与胚胎干细胞有许多相似之处,将来可能成为胚胎干细胞在临床应用中的替代。本文综述了iPS相关的几种转录因子,及其在重编程过程中的作用以及iPS的发展前景。     

Reprogramming of ovine adult fibroblasts to pluripotency via drug-inducible expression of defined factors

Reprogramming of somatic cells in the enucleated egg made Dolly, the sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal in 1996. However, the mechanism of sheep somatic cell reprogramming has not yet been addressed. Moreover, sheep embryonic stem (ES) cells are still not available, which limits the generation of precise gene-modified sheep. In this study, we report that sheep somatic cells can be directly reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells using defined factors (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, Klf4, Nanog, Lin28, SV40 large T and hTERT). Our observations indicated that somatic cells from sheep are more difficult to reprogram than somatic cells from other species, in which iPS cells have been reported. We demonstrated that sheep iPS cells express ES cell markers, including alkaline phosphatase, Oct4, Nanog, Sox2, Rex1, stage-specific embryonic antigen-1, TRA-1-60, TRA-1-81 and E-cadherin. Sheep iPS cells exhibited normal karyotypes and were able to differentiate into all three germ layers both in vitro and in teratomas. Our study may help to reveal the mechanism of somatic cell reprogramming in sheep and provide a platform to explore the culture conditions for sheep ES cells. Moreover, sheep iPS cells may be directly used to generate precise gene-modified sheep.     

Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors

Differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state by transfer of nuclear contents into oocytes or by fusion with embryonic stem (ES) cells. Little is known about factors that induce this reprogramming. Here, we demonstrate induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic or adult fibroblasts by introducing four factors, Oct3/4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4, under ES cell culture conditions. Unexpectedly, Nanog was dispensable. These cells, which we designated iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells, exhibit the morphology and growth properties of ES cells and express ES cell marker genes. Subcutaneous transplantation of iPS cells into nude mice resulted in tumors containing a variety of tissues from all three germ layers. Following injection into blastocysts, iPS cells contributed to mouse embryonic development. These data demonstrate that pluripotent stem cells can be directly generated from fibroblast cultures by the addition of only a few defined factors.     

Mouse induced pluripotent stem cells

The recent discovery that it is possible to directly reprogramme somatic cells to an embryonic stem (ES) cell-like pluripotent state, by retroviral transduction of just four genes (Oct3/4, Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4), represents a major breakthrough in stem cell research. The reprogrammed cells, known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, possess many of the properties of ES cells, and represent one of the most promising sources of patient-specific cells for use in regenerative medicine. While the ultimate goal is the use of iPS cells in the treatment of human disease, much of the research to date has been carried out with murine cells, and improved mouse iPS cells have been shown to contribute to live chimeric mice that are germ-line competent. Very recently, it has been reported that iPS cells can be generated by three factors without c-Myc, and these cells give rise to chimeric mice with a reduced risk of tumour development.     

A novel strategy to derive iPS cells from porcine fibroblasts

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology demonstrates that somatic cells can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent state by over-expressing four reprogramming factors. This technology has created an interest in deriving iPS cells from domesticated animals such as pigs, sheep and cattle. Moloney murine leukemia retrovirus vectors have been widely used to generate and study mouse iPS cells. However, this retrovirus system infects only mouse and rat cells, which limits its use in establishing iPS cells from other mammals. In our study, we demonstrate a novel retrovirus strategy to efficiently generate porcine iPS cells from embryonic fibroblasts. We transfected four human reprogramming factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and Myc) into fibroblasts in one step by using a VSV-G envelope-coated pantropic retrovirus that was easily packaged by GP2-293 cells. We established six embryonic stem (ES)-like cell lines in human ES cell medium supplemented with bFGF. Colonies showed a similar morphology to human ES cells with a high nuclei-cytoplasm ratio and phase-bright flat colonies. Porcine iPS cells could form embryoid bodies in vitro and differentiate into the three germ layers in vivo by forming teratomas in immunodeficient mice.     

Sleeping Beauty transposon-based system for cellular reprogramming and targeted gene insertion in induced pluripotent stem cells

The discovery of direct cell reprogramming and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology opened up new avenues for the application of non-viral, transposon-based gene delivery systems. The Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon is highly advanced for versatile genetic manipulations in mammalian cells. We established iPS cell reprogramming of mouse embryonic fibroblasts and human foreskin fibroblasts by transposition of OSKM (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc) and OSKML (OSKM + Lin28) expression cassettes mobilized by the SB100X hyperactive transposase. The efficiency of iPS cell derivation with SB transposon system was in the range of that obtained with retroviral vectors. Co-expression of the miRNA302/367 cluster together with OSKM significantly improved reprogramming efficiency and accelerated the temporal kinetics of reprogramming. The iPS cells displayed a stable karyotype, and hallmarks of pluripotency including expression of stem cell markers and the ability to differentiate into embryoid bodies in vitro. We demonstrate Cre recombinase-mediated exchange allowing simultaneous removal of the reprogramming cassette and targeted knock-in of an expression cassette of interest into the transposon-tagged locus in mouse iPS cells. This strategy would allow correction of a genetic defect by site-specific insertion of a therapeutic gene construct into ‘safe harbor’ sites in the genomes of autologous, patient-derived iPS cells.