Rapid and Efficient Conversion of Integration-Free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to GMP-Grade Culture Conditions

Data suggest that clinical applications of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) will be realized. Nonetheless, clinical applications will require hiPSCs that are free of exogenous DNA and that can be manufactured through Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Optimally, derivation of hiPSCs should be rapid and efficient in order to minimize manipulations, reduce potential for accumulation of mutations and minimize financial costs. Previous studies reported the use of modified synthetic mRNAs to reprogram fibroblasts to a pluripotent state. Here, we provide an optimized, fully chemically defined and feeder-free protocol for the derivation of hiPSCs using synthetic mRNAs. The protocol results in derivation of fully reprogrammed hiPSC lines from adult dermal fibroblasts in less than two weeks. The hiPSC lines were successfully tested for their identity, purity, stability and safety at a GMP facility and cryopreserved. To our knowledge, as a proof of principle, these are the first integration-free iPSCs lines that were reproducibly generated through synthetic mRNA reprogramming that could be putatively used for clinical purposes.     

Generation of Integration-free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Hair-derived Keratinocytes

Recent advances in reprogramming allow us to turn somatic cells into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Disease modeling using patient-specific hiPSCs allows the study of the underlying mechanism for pathogenesis, also providing a platform for the development of in vitro drug screening and gene therapy to improve treatment options. The promising potential of hiPSCs for regenerative medicine is also evident from the increasing number of publications (>7000) on iPSCs in recent years. Various cell types from distinct lineages have been successfully used for hiPSC generation, including skin fibroblasts, hematopoietic cells and epidermal keratinocytes. While skin biopsies and blood collection are routinely performed in many labs as a source of somatic cells for the generation of hiPSCs, the collection and subsequent derivation of hair keratinocytes are less commonly used. Hair-derived keratinocytes represent a non-invasive approach to obtain cell samples from patients. Here we outline a simple non-invasive method for the derivation of keratinocytes from plucked hair. We also provide instructions for maintenance of keratinocytes and subsequent reprogramming to generate integration-free hiPSC using episomal vectors.     

Effective Cardiac Myocyte Differentiation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Requires VEGF

Perhaps one of the most significant achievements in modern science is the discovery of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), which have paved the way for regeneration therapy using patients’ own cells. Cardiomyocytes differentiated from hiPSCs (hiPSC-CMs) could be used for modelling patients with heart failure, for testing new drugs, and for cellular therapy in the future. However, the present cardiomyocyte differentiation protocols exhibit variable differentiation efficiency across different hiPSC lines, which inhibit the application of this technology significantly. Here, we demonstrate a novel myocyte differentiation protocol that can yield a significant, high percentage of cardiac myocyte differentiation (>85%) in 2 hiPSC lines, which makes the fabrication of a human cardiac muscle patch possible. The established hiPSCs cell lines being examined include the transgene integrated UCBiPS7 derived from cord blood cells and non-integrated PCBC16iPS from skin fibroblasts. The results indicate that hiPSC-CMs derived from established hiPSC lines respond to adrenergic or acetylcholine stimulation and beat regularly for greater than 60 days. This data also demonstrates that this novel differentiation protocol can efficiently generate hiPSC-CMs from iPSC lines that are derived not only from fibroblasts, but also from blood mononuclear cells.     

One-step derivation of cardiomyocytes and mesenchymal stem cells from human pluripotent stem cells

Cardiomyocytes (CMs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are important cell types for cardiac repair post myocardial infarction. Here we proved that both CMs and MSCs can be simultaneously generated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) via a pro-mesoderm differentiation strategy. Two hiPSC lines, hiPSC (1) and hiPSC (2) were generated from human dermal fibroblasts using OCT-4, SOX-2, KLF-4, c-Myc via retroviral-based reprogramming. H9 human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) served as control. CMs and MSCs were co-generated from hiPSCs and hESCs via embryoid body-dependent cardiac differentiation protocol involving a serum-free and insulin-depleted medium containing a p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB 203580. Comparing to bone marrow and umbilical cord blood-derived MSCs, hiPSC-derived MSCs (iMSCs) expressed common MSC markers and were capable of adipogenesis, osteogenesis and chondrogenesis. Moreover, iMSCs continuously proliferated for more than 32 population doublings without cellular senescence and showed superior pro-angiogenic and wound healing properties. In summary, we generated a large number of homogenous MSCs in conjunction with CMs in a low-cost and efficient one step manner. Functionally competent CMs and MSCs co-generated from hiPSCs may be useful for autologous cardiac repair.     

Botulinum hemagglutinin‐mediated in situ break‐up of human induced pluripotent stem cell aggregates for high‐density suspension culture

Large numbers of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are required for making stable cell bank. Although suspension culture yields high cell numbers, there remain unresolved challenges for obtaining high‐density of hiPSCs because large size aggregates exhibit low growth rates. Here, we established a simple method for hiPSC aggregate break‐up using botulinum hemagglutinin (HA), which specifically bound with E‐cadherin and disrupted cell–cell connections in hiPSC aggregates. HA showed temporary activity for disrupting the E‐cadherin‐mediated cell–cell connections to facilitate the break‐up of aggregates into small sizes only 9 hr after HA addition. The transportation of HA into the aggregates was mediated by transcellular and paracellular way after HA addition to the culture medium. hiPSC aggregates broken up by HA showed a higher number of live cells, higher cell density, and higher expansion fold compared to those of aggregates dissociated with enzymatic digestion. Moreover, a maximum cell density of 4.5 ± 0.2 × 10⁶ cells ml^?1 was obtained by aggregate break‐up into small ones, which was three times higher than that with the conventional culture without aggregate break‐up. Therefore, the temporary activity of HA for disrupting E‐cadherin‐mediated cell–cell connection was key to establishing a simple in situ method for hiPSC aggregate break‐up in bioreactors, leading to high cell density in suspension culture.     

Inhibition of neuronal nitric oxide synthase activity promotes migration of human‐induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived neural stem cells toward cancer cells

The breakthrough in derivation of human‐induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) provides an approach that may help overcome ethical and allergenic challenges posed in numerous medical applications involving human cells, including neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs). Considering the great potential of NSCs in targeted cancer gene therapy, we investigated in this study the tumor tropism of hiPSC‐derived NSCs and attempted to enhance the tropism by manipulation of biological activities of proteins that are involved in regulating the migration of NSCs toward cancer cells. We first demonstrated that hiPSC‐NSCs displayed tropism for both glioblastoma cells and breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. We then compared gene expression profiles between migratory and non‐migratory hiPSC‐NSCs toward these cancer cells and observed that the gene encoding neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) was down‐regulated in migratory hiPSC‐NSCs. Using nNOS inhibitors and nNOS siRNAs, we demonstrated that this protein is a relevant regulator in controlling migration of hiPSC‐NSCs toward cancer cells, and that inhibition of its activity or down‐regulation of its expression can sensitize poorly migratory NSCs and be used to improve their tumor tropism. These findings suggest a novel application of nNOS inhibitors in neural stem cell‐mediated cancer therapy.     

Natural underlying mtDNA heteroplasmy as a potential source of intra‐person hiPSC variability

Functional variability among human clones of induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) remains a limitation in assembling high‐quality biorepositories. Beyond inter‐person variability, the root cause of intra‐person variability remains unknown. Mitochondria guide the required transition from oxidative to glycolytic metabolism in nuclear reprogramming. Moreover, mitochondria have their own genome (mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA]). Herein, we performed mtDNA next‐generation sequencing (NGS) on 84 hiPSC clones derived from a cohort of 19 individuals, including mitochondrial and non‐mitochondrial patients. The analysis of mtDNA variants showed that low levels of potentially pathogenic mutations in the original fibroblasts are revealed through nuclear reprogramming, generating mutant hiPSCs with a detrimental effect in their differentiated progeny. Specifically, hiPSC‐derived cardiomyocytes with expanded mtDNA mutations non‐related with any described human disease, showed impaired mitochondrial respiration, being a potential cause of intra‐person hiPSC variability. We propose mtDNA NGS as a new selection criterion to ensure hiPSC quality for drug discovery and regenerative medicine.     

Live Cell Monitoring of hiPSC Generation and Differentiation Using Differential Expression of Endogenous microRNAs

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) provide new possibilities for regenerative therapies. In order for this potential to be achieved, it is critical to efficiently monitor the differentiation of these hiPSCs into specific lineages. Here, we describe a lentiviral reporter vector sensitive to specific microRNAs (miRNA) to show that a single vector bearing multiple miRNA target sequences conjugated to different reporters can be used to monitor hiPSC formation and subsequent differentiation from human fetal fibroblasts (HFFs). The reporter vector encodes EGFP conjugated to the targets of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) specific miRNAs (miR-302a and miR-302d) and mCherry conjugated to the targets of differentiated cells specific miRNAs (miR-142-3p, miR-155, and miR-223). The vector was used to track reprogramming of HFF to iPSC. HFFs co-transduced with this reporter vector and vectors encoding 4 reprogramming factors (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and cMYC) were mostly positive for EGFP (67%) at an early stage of hiPSC formation. EGFP expression gradually disappeared and mCherry expression increased indicating less miRNAs specific to differentiated cells and expression of miRNAs specific to hESCs. Upon differentiation of the hiPSC into embryoid bodies, a large fraction of these hiPSCs regained EGFP expression and some of those cells became single positive for EGFP. Further differentiation into neural lineages showed distinct structures demarcated by either EGFP or mCherry expression. These findings demonstrate that a miRNA dependent reporter vector can be a useful tool to monitor living cells during reprogramming of hiPSC and subsequent differentiation to lineage specific cells.     

Two new protocols to enhance the production and isolation of human induced pluripotent stem cell lines

There are two critical stages in the retroviral reprogramming of somatic cells to produce human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines. One is the production of high titer virus required to reprogram somatic cells; the other is identification of true hiPSC colonies from heterogeneous cell populations, and their isolation and expansion to generate a sustainable, pluripotent stem cell line. Here we describe simple, time-saving methods to address the current difficulties at these two critical junctures. First, we have developed a method to increase the number of infectious viral units 600-fold. Second, we have developed a TRA-1-81-based positive selection column method for isolating “true” hiPSCs from the heterogeneous cell populations, which overcomes the labor-intensive and highly subjective method of manual selection of hiPSC colonies. We have used these techniques to produce 8 hiPSC lines from human fibroblasts and we believe that they are of considerable utility to researchers in the hiPSC field.     

A Novel In Vitro Method for Detecting Undifferentiated Human Pluripotent Stem Cells as Impurities in Cell Therapy Products Using a Highly Efficient Culture System

Innovative applications of cell therapy products (CTPs) derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in regenerative medicine are currently being developed. The presence of residual undifferentiated hPSCs in CTPs is a quality concern associated with tumorigencity. However, no simple in vitro method for direct detection of undifferentiated hPSCs that contaminate CTPs has been developed. Here, we show a novel approach for direct and sensitive detection of a trace amount of undifferentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) using a highly efficient amplification method in combination with laminin-521 and Essential 8 medium. Essential 8 medium better facilitated the growth of hiPSCs dissociated into single cells on laminin-521 than in mTeSR1 medium. hiPSCs cultured on laminin-521 in Essential 8 medium were maintained in an undifferentiated state and they maintained the ability to differentiate into various cell types. Essential 8 medium allowed robust hiPSC proliferation plated on laminin-521 at low cell density, whereas mTeSR1 did not enhance the cell growth. The highly efficient culture system using laminin-521 and Essential 8 medium detected hiPSCs spiked into primary human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) or human neurons at the ratio of 0.001%–0.01% as formed colonies. Moreover, this assay method was demonstrated to detect residual undifferentiated hiPSCs in cell preparations during the process of hMSC differentiation from hiPSCs. These results indicate that our highly efficient amplification system using a combination of laminin-521 and Essential 8 medium is able to detect a trace amount of undifferentiated hPSCs contained as impurities in CTPs and would contribute to quality assessment of hPSC-derived CTPs during the manufacturing process.     

Molecular signatures of human induced pluripotent stem cells highlight sex differences and cancer genes

Although human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have enormous potential in regenerative medicine, their epigenetic variability suggests that some lines may not be suitable for human therapy. There are currently few benchmarks for assessing quality. Here we show that X-inactivation markers can be used to separate hiPSC lines into distinct epigenetic classes and that the classes are phenotypically distinct. Loss of XIST expression is strongly correlated with upregulation of X-linked oncogenes, accelerated growth rate in?vitro, and poorer differentiation in?vivo. Whereas differences in X-inactivation potential result in epigenetic variability of female hiPSC lines, male hiPSC lines generally resemble each other and do not overexpress the oncogenes. Neither physiological oxygen levels nor HDAC inhibitors offer advantages to culturing female hiPSC lines. We conclude that female hiPSCs may be epigenetically less stable in culture and caution that loss of?XIST may result in qualitatively less desirable stem cell lines.     

Novel strategy to improve hepatocyte differentiation stability through synchronized behavior-driven mechanical memory of iPSCs

Cellular homeostasis is assumed to be regulated by the coordination of dynamic behaviors. Lack of efficient methods for synchronizing large quantities of cells makes studying cell culture strategies for bioprocess development challenging. Here, we demonstrate a novel application of botulinum hemagglutinin (HA), an E-cadherin function-blocking agent, to synchronize behavior-driven mechanical memory in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) cultures. Application of HA to hiPSCs resulted in a decrease in actin bundling and disruption of colony formation in a concentration-and time-dependent manner. Interestingly, cytoskeleton rearrangement in cells with prolonged exposure to HA resulted in mechanical memory synchronization with Yes-associated protein, which increased pluripotent cell homogeneity. Synchronized hiPSCs have higher capability to differentiate into functional hepatocytes than unsynchronized hiPSCs, resulting in improved efficiency and robustness of hepatocyte differentiation. Thus, our strategy for cell behavior synchronization before differentiation induction provides an approach against the instability of differentiation of pluripotent cells.     

Disease-Corrected Hepatocyte-Like Cells from Familial Hypercholesterolemia-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

The generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from an individual patient provides a unique tool for disease modeling, drug discovery, and cell replacement therapies. Patient-specific pluripotent stem cells can be expanded in vitro and are thus suitable for genetic manipulations. To date, several genetic liver disorders have been modeled using patient-specific hiPSCs. Here, we present the generation of corrected hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) from hiPSCs of a familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) patient with a homozygous mutation in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) gene. We generated hiPSCs from a patient with FH with the mutated gene encoding a truncated non-functional receptor. In order to deliver normal LDLR to the defective cells, we used a plasmid vector carrying the normal receptor ORF to genetically transform the hiPSCs. The transformed cells were expanded and directed toward HLCs. Undifferentiated defective hiPSCs and HLCs differentiated from the defective hiPSCs did not have the ability to uptake labeled low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles. The differentiated transformed hiPSCs showed LDL-uptake ability and the correction of disease phenotype as well as expressions of hepatocyte-specific markers. The functionality of differentiated cells was also confirmed by indo-cyanine green (ICG) uptake assay, PAS staining, inducible cyp450 activity, and oil red staining. These data suggest that hiPSC technology can be used for generation of disease-corrected, patient-specific HLCs with potential value for disease modeling and drug discovery as well as cell therapy applications in future.     

Nrf2/HO-1信号通路在人诱导性多能干细胞氧化应激中的作用

氧化应激是诱导性多能干细胞(induced pluripotent stem cell, iPSC)在培养和应用中遇到的一个关键问题,探讨其作用机制具有重要的理论和实践意义。目前有关iPSC氧化应激的研究相对较少,Nrf2/HO-1信号通路在其中的作用尚不明了。因此,本研究以不同浓度的H2O2(100、200、300、400 μmol/L)处理人iPSC(hiPSC),分别在4 h和24 h于倒置显微镜下观察hiPSC及其饲养层细胞SNL氧化损伤的程度,通过碱性磷酸酶（alkaline phosphatase, AP）试剂盒和超氧化物阴离子荧光探针,分别检测hiPSC多能性和细胞活性氧(reactive oxygen species, ROS)水平,并通过qRT-PCR检测H2O2处理4 h后早期应激状态下Nrf2和HO 1 mRNA的表达水平,免疫细胞化学和Western印迹检测p-Nrf2和HO-1蛋白质的表达量。结果表明：hiPSC和SNL细胞的ROS水平呈H2O2剂量依赖性升高。除了100 μmol/L H2O2组hiPSC的细胞形态和多能性保持较好外,其余浓度H2O2均导致hiPSC出现不同程度损伤和死亡。但与SNL细胞相比,hiPSC中ROS水平相对较低,细胞状态也相对较好。SNL细胞中Nrf2和HO-1-mRNA表达的变化幅度与H2O2浓度呈线性相关,而hiPSC中Nrf2和HO-1表达的变化幅度与H2O2浓度之间并未呈现线性相关,其中Nrf2在100 μmol/L H2O2组表达量最高,而HO-1在200 μmol/L H2O2组表达量最高,意味着hiPSC氧化应激调控机制的复杂性。综上结果表明,hiPSC具有较好的抗氧化能力,其相关机制与Nrf2/HO-1信号通路有关,同时也可能涉及到其它相关通路的交互作用。     

Strategies for rapidly mapping proviral integration sites and assessing cardiogenic potential of nascent human induced pluripotent stem cell clones

Recent methodological advances have improved the ease and efficiency of generating human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), but this now typically results in a greater number of hiPSC clones being derived than can be wholly characterized. It is therefore imperative that methods are developed which facilitate rapid selection of hiPSC clones most suited for the downstream research aims. Here we describe a combination of procedures enabling the simultaneous screening of multiple clones to determine their genomic integrity as well as their cardiac differentiation potential within two weeks of the putative reprogrammed colonies initially appearing. By coupling splinkerette-PCR with Ion Torrent sequencing, we could ascertain the number and map the proviral integration sites in lentiviral-reprogrammed hiPSCs. In parallel, we developed an effective cardiac differentiation protocol that generated functional cardiomyocytes within 10 days without requiring line-specific optimization for any of the six independent human pluripotent stem cell lines tested. Finally, to demonstrate the scalable potential of these procedures, we picked 20 nascent iPSC clones and performed these independent assays concurrently. Before the clones required passaging, we were able to identify clones with a single integrated copy of the reprogramming vector and robust cardiac differentiation potential for further analysis.     

Faster generation of hiPSCs by coupling high-titer lentivirus and column-based positive selection

The protocols described here address methods used in two crucial stages in the retroviral reprogramming of somatic cells to produce human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines. The first is an optimized method for producing lentivirus at an efficiency 600-fold greater than previously published, and it includes conjugation of the lentivirus to streptavidin superparamagnetic particles; this process takes 8 d. The second method enables the isolation of true hiPSCs immediately after somatic cell reprogramming and involves column-based positive selection of cells expressing the pluripotency marker TRA-1-81. This process takes 2 h and, as it is directly compatible with feeder-free culture, the time burden of manually identifying and mechanically propagating hiPSC colonies is reduced drastically. Taken together, these methods accelerate the production of hiPSCs and enable lines to be isolated, expanded to approxiamtely 10? cells and cryopreserved within 6-8 weeks.