Embryonic stem cells derived from morulae,inner cell mass,and blastocysts of mink: Comparisons of their pluripotencies

A characterization of cell lines that we derived from morulae (three lines), blastocysts (two lines), and the inner cell mass (ICM) is given. The karyotype of all the lines was normal; the genotype of four lines was XX, and four lines were genotypically XY. The pluripotencies and commitment status of the derived lines were estimated. First, there were not less than two-thirds of cells in the populations of the lines derived from morulae and the lCM with both Xs active; 70–100% of cells of the blastocyst-derived lines had one of the Xs in an inactive state. The activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) in the lines (genotype XX) derived from morulae and ICM was found to be twofold higher than in lines with genotype XY, and G6PD activity was the same in the blastocyst-derived XX lines and XY lines. Second, when injected intraperitoneally into athymic mice, morulae- and ICM-derived cells gave rise to simple and complex embryoid bodies (EB) resembling to typical “cystic” mouse EBs. Third, when injected subcutaneously to athymic mice, the ICM- or morula-derived cells gave rise to typical teratomas containing derivatives of the three germ layers and components of organogenesis. Comparisons of cell lines of different derivations demonstrated that the pluripotencies of the ES cells derived from morulae or the ICM are higher than those of blastocyst derivation. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Origin of lentoids in experimental teratomas derived from early postimplantation rat embryos

Summary Experimental teratomas derived from renal isografts of early postimplantation rat embryonic shields were analysed histologically for the presence of lentoids and their relationship with other tissues within the tumour. The observations permit the conclusion that in teratomas lentoids originate either from the retinal epithelium or from the ependymal cells of the brain ventricle     

A Scalable Approach to Prevent Teratoma Formation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells

As the renewable source of all cell types in the body, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold great promise for human cell therapy. However, one major bottleneck that hinders the clinic application of hESCs is that hESCs remaining with their differentiated derivatives pose cancer risk by forming teratomas after transplantation. NANOG is a critical pluripotency factor specifically expressed in hESCs but rarely in their differentiated derivatives. By introducing a hyperactive variant of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene into the 3′-untranslated region of the endogenous NANOG gene of hESCs through homologous recombination, we developed a safe and highly scalable approach to efficiently eliminate the teratoma risk associated with hESCs without apparent negative impact on their differentiated cell types. As thymidine kinase is widely used in human gene therapy trials and is the therapeutic target of U. S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, our strategy could be effectively applied to the clinic development of hESC-based human cell therapy.