Differentiated Daughter Cells Regulate Stem Cell Proliferation and Fate through Intra-tissue Tension

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体细胞直接转化为多能干细胞的新方法

胚胎干细胞具有自我复制、高度增殖、多向分化潜能、可植入性和重建能力等特征.对于诸如青少年糖尿病、帕金森综合症和心脏病等需要通过细胞移植来治疗的疾病而言,从人的囊胚内细胞团获得胚胎干细胞系是最理想的供体来源.然而,目前实验和医疗还要考虑到利用人类胚胎的一些伦理问题和组织排异反应.避免这些问题的可能途径就是通过已分化体细胞的重新编程来直接转化为诱导性多能干细胞,它们具有类似ES细胞的功能.目前,获得诱导性多能干细胞的设想已初步实现了从老鼠到人的突破.以下主要对体细胞直接转化为诱导性多能干细胞的研究现状、方法和转录因子在诱导体细胞重新编程中发挥的作用等内容进行了概述,以期为干细胞研究者进行更深入的研究提供一定的借鉴.     

Cyclin-dependent Kinase-mediated Sox2 Phosphorylation Enhances the Ability of Sox2 to Establish the Pluripotent State

Sox2 is a key factor in maintaining self-renewal of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and adult stem cells as well as in reprogramming differentiated cells back into pluripotent or multipotent stem cells. Although previous studies have shown that Sox2 is phosphorylated in human ESCs, the biological significance of Sox2 phosphorylation in ESC maintenance and reprogramming has not been well understood. In this study we have identified new phosphorylation sites on Sox2 and have further demonstrated that Cdk2-mediated Sox2 phosphorylation at Ser-39 and Ser-253 is required for establishing the pluripotent state during reprogramming but is dispensable for ESC maintenance. Mass spectrometry analysis of purified Sox2 protein has identified new phosphorylation sites on two tyrosine and six serine/Threonine residues. Cdk2 physically interacts with Sox2 and phosphorylates Sox2 at Ser-39 and Ser-253 in vitro. Surprisingly, Sox2 phosphorylation at Ser-39 and Ser-253 is dispensable for ESC self-renewal and cell cycle progression. In addition, Sox2 phosphorylation enhances its ability to establish the pluripotent state during reprogramming by working with Oct4 and Klf4. Finally, Cdk2 can also modulate the ability of Oct4, Sox2, and Klf4 in reprogramming fibroblasts back into pluripotent stem cells. Therefore, this study has for the first time demonstrated that Sox2 phosphorylation by Cdk2 promotes the establishment but not the maintenance of the pluripotent state. It might also help explain why the inactivation of CDK inhibitors such as p53, p21, and Arf/Ink4 promotes the induction of pluripotent stem cells.     

分化细胞经特定因子诱导重编程为多能干细胞

胚胎干细胞在再生医学领域有着十分诱人的应用前景。但是现有胚胎干细胞建系技术不能避开对卵细胞的操作, 成为ES细胞临床应用的障碍。通过反转录病毒载体系统, 在小鼠和人类高度分化细胞中表达干细胞因子Oct4, Sox2, Klf4和/或c-Myc等基因, 再经过干细胞标志因子Nanog或Oct4筛选, 可以获得与ES细胞特性十分近似的诱导多能干细胞系。这种不依赖于卵细胞的多能干细胞建系方法无疑是干细胞实验技术的重大进展, 也是对现有重编程理论假设的突破。综述了诱导多能干细胞系建系实验结果, 并对诱导重编程的机制和诱导多能干细胞系的临床应用前景进行了讨论。     

Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 Influences Fate Decision of Human Monocytes Differentiated from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Mutations in Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are strongly associated with familial Parkinson’s disease (PD). High expression levels in immune cells suggest a role of LRRK2 in regulating the immune system. In this study, we investigated the effect of the LRRK2 (G2019S) mutation in monocytes, using a human stem cell-derived model expressing LRRK2 at endogenous levels. We discovered alterations in the differentiation pattern of LRRK2 mutant, compared to non-mutant isogenic controls, leading to accelerated monocyte production and a reduction in the non-classical CD14+CD16+ monocyte subpopulation in the LRRK2 mutant cells. LPS-treatment of the iPSC-derived monocytes significantly increased the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, demonstrating a functional response without revealing any significant differences between the genotypes. Assessment of the migrational capacity of the differentiated monocytes revealed moderate deficits in LRRK2 mutant cells, compared to their respective controls. Our findings indicate a pivotal role of LRRK2 in hematopoietic fate decision, endorsing the involvement of the immune system in the development of PD.     

Epigenetic Mechanisms Regulate MHC and Antigen Processing Molecules in Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Background

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are an attractive resource for new therapeutic approaches that involve tissue regeneration. hESCs have exhibited low immunogenicity due to low levels of Mayor Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class-I and absence of MHC class-II expression. Nevertheless, the mechanisms regulating MHC expression in hESCs had not been explored.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We analyzed the expression levels of classical and non-classical MHC class-I, MHC class-II molecules, antigen-processing machinery (APM) components and NKG2D ligands (NKG2D-L) in hESCs, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and NTera2 (NT2) teratocarcinoma cell line. Epigenetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of these genes were investigated by bisulfite sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. We showed that low levels of MHC class-I molecules were associated with absent or reduced expression of the transporter associated with antigen processing 1 (TAP-1) and tapasin (TPN) components in hESCs and iPSCs, which are involved in the transport and load of peptides. Furthermore, lack of β2-microglobulin (β2m) light chain in these cells limited the expression of MHC class I trimeric molecule on the cell surface. NKG2D ligands (MICA, MICB) were observed in all pluripotent stem cells lines. Epigenetic analysis showed that H3K9me3 repressed the TPN gene in undifferentiated cells whilst HLA-B and β2m acquired the H3K4me3 modification during the differentiation to embryoid bodies (EBs). Absence of HLA-DR and HLA-G expression was regulated by DNA methylation.

Conclusions/Significance

Our data provide fundamental evidence for the epigenetic control of MHC in hESCs and iPSCs. Reduced MHC class I and class II expression in hESCs and iPSCs can limit their recognition by the immune response against these cells. The knowledge of these mechanisms will further allow the development of strategies to induce tolerance and improve stem cell allograft acceptance.     

Low Immunogenicity of Neural Progenitor Cells Differentiated from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived from Less Immunogenic Somatic Cells

The groundbreaking discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) provides a new source for cell therapy. However, whether the iPS derived functional lineages from different cell origins have different immunogenicity remains unknown. It had been known that the cells isolated from extra-embryonic tissues, such as umbilical cord mesenchymal cells (UMCs), are less immunogenic than other adult lineages such as skin fibroblasts (SFs). In this report, we differentiated iPS cells from human UMCs and SFs into neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and analyzed their immunogenicity. Through co-culture with allologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), we showed that UMCs were indeed less immunogenic than skin cells to simulate proliferation of PBMCs. Surprisingly, we found that the NPCs differentiated from UMC-iPS cells retained low immunogenicity as the parental UMCs based on the PBMC proliferation assay. In cytotoxic expression assay, reactions in most kinds of immune effector cells showed more perforin and granzyme B expression with SF-NPCs stimulation than that with UMC-NPCs stimulation in PBMC co-culture system, in T cell co-culture system as well. Furthermore, through whole genome expression microarray analysis, we showed that over 70 immune genes, including all members of HLA-I, were expressed at lower levels in NPCs derived from UMC-iPS cells than that from SF-iPS cells. Our results demonstrated a phenomenon that the low immunogenicity of the less immunogenic cells could be retained after cell reprogramming and further differentiation, thus provide a new concept to generate functional lineages with lower immunogenicity for regenerative medicine.     

获得多能性干细胞的方法

胚胎干细胞系的获得为细胞和器官损伤及病变的治疗提供了新的途径,但是治疗用细胞和受体病人之间免疫不相容问题妨碍了干细胞临床应用.近年来对分化细胞重编程研究使研究人员可以获得多能性干细胞,这为解决这一难题带来了新的希望.对获得多能性干细胞所涉及的机制以及方法进行了综述.     

Enhanced Telomere Rejuvenation in Pluripotent Cells Reprogrammed via Nuclear Transfer Relative to Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

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