Temporal mechanisms of myogenic specification in human induced pluripotent stem cells
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Understanding the mechanisms of myogenesis in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is a prerequisite to achieving patient-specific therapy for diseases of skeletal muscle. hiPSCs of different origin show distinctive kinetics and ability to differentiate into myocytes. To address the unique cellular and temporal context of hiPSC differentiation, we perform a longitudinal comparison of the transcriptomic profiles of three hiPSC lines that display differential myogenic specification, one robust and two blunted. We detail temporal differences in mechanisms that lead to robust myogenic specification. We show gene expression signatures of putative cell subpopulations and extracellular matrix components that may support myogenesis. Further, we show that targeted knockdown of ZIC3 at the outset of differentiation leads to improved myogenic specification in blunted hiPSC lines. Our study suggests that β-catenin transcriptional cofactors mediate crosstalk between multiple cellular processes and exogenous cues to facilitate specification of hiPSCs to mesoderm lineage, leading to robust myogenesis.
Project description:Fate decisions in the embryo are controlled by a plethora of microenvironmental interactions in a three-dimensional niche. To investigate whether aspects of this microenvironmental complexity can be engineered to direct myogenic human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) differentiation, we screened cell types present in the developmental or adult stem cell niche in heterotypic suspension embryoids. We identified embryonic endothelial cells and fibroblasts as highly permissive for myogenic specification of hiPSCs. After two weeks of sequential Wnt and FGF pathway induction, these three-component embryoids (iTCEs) are enriched in Pax7 positive embryonic-like myogenic progenitors (eMPs) that can be isolated by flow cytometry. Myogenic differentiation of hiPSCs in iTCEs relies on a specialized structural microenvironment and depends on MAPK, PI3K/AKT, and Notch signaling. After transplantation in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, eMPs repopulate the stem cell niche, reactivate after repeated injury and, compared to adult human myoblasts, display enhanced fusion and lead to stronger muscles. Altogether, we provide a two-week protocol for efficient and scalable suspension-based 3D derivation of Pax7 positive myogenic progenitors from hiPSCs.
Project description:Skeletal muscle research is transitioning towards 3D tissue engineered in vitro models reproducing muscle’s native architecture and supporting measurement of functionality. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) offer high yields of cells for differentiation. It has been difficult to differentiate high quality, pure 3D muscle tissues from hiPSCs that show contractile properties comparable to primary myoblast-derived tissues. Here, we present a transgene-free method for the generation of purified, expandable myogenic progenitors (MPs) from hiPSCs grown under feeder-free conditions. We defined a protocol with optimal hydrogel and medium conditions that allowed production of highly contractile 3D tissue engineered skeletal muscles with forces similar to primary myoblast-derived tissues. Gene expression and proteomic analysis between hiPSC-derived and primary myoblast-derived 3D tissues revealed a similar expression profile of proteins involved in myogenic differentiation and sarcomere function. The protocol should be generally applicable for the study of personalized human skeletal muscle tissue in health and disease.
Project description:Fate decisions in the embryo are controlled by a plethora of microenvironmental interactions in a three-dimensional niche. To investigate whether aspects of this microenvironmental complexity can be engineered to direct myogenic human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) differentiation, we screened cell types present in the developmental or adult stem cell niche in heterotypic suspension embryoids. We identified embryonic endothelial cells and fibroblasts as highly permissive for myogenic specification of hiPSCs. After two weeks of consecutive Wnt and FGF pathway induction, three-component embryoids (iTCEs) containing these cell types yielded between 40-50% human Pax7 positive embryonic-like myogenic progenitors (eMPs). In a secondary screen we identified cell surface markers allowing for flow cytometric isolation of >99% of the Pax7 positive eMP population from iTCEs. Myogenic differentiation of hiPSCs in iTCEs relies on a specialized structural microenvironment and activates the MAPK, PI3K/AKT, and Notch pathways. After transplantation in a mouse model Duchenne muscular dystrophy, eMPs repopulate the stem cell niche, reactivate after repeated injury and, compared to adult human myoblasts, display enhanced fusion and lead to stronger muscles. Altogether, we provide a highly efficient and scalable suspension-based protocol for 3D derivation of Pax7 positive myogenic progenitors from hiPSCs within a two-week time window.
Project description:To gain insight into the molecular regulation of human heart development, a detailed comparison of the mRNA and miRNA transcriptomes across differentiating human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)–derived cardiomyocytes and biopsies from fetal, adult, and hypertensive human hearts was performed. Gene ontology analysis of the mRNA expression levels of the hiPSCs differentiating into cardiomyocytes revealed 3 distinct groups of genes: pluripotent specific, transitional cardiac specification, and mature cardiomyocyte specific. Hierarchical clustering of the mRNA data revealed that the transcriptome of hiPSC cardiomyocytes largely stabilizes 20 days after initiation of differentiation. Nevertheless, analysis of cells continuously cultured for 120 days indicated that the cardiomyocytes continued to mature toward a more adult-like gene expression pattern. Analysis of cardiomyocyte-specific miRNAs (miR-1, miR-133a/b, and miR-208a/b) revealed a miRNA pattern indicative of stem cell to cardiomyocyte specification. A biostatistitical approach integrated the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles revealing a cardiomyocyte differentiation miRNA network and identified putative mRNAs targeted by multiple miRNAs. Together, these data reveal the miRNA network in human heart development and support the notion that overlapping miRNA networks re-enforce transcriptional control during developmental specification. miRNA expression profiling of differentiating human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)–derived cardiomyocytes (days 0-120)
Project description:It remains controversial whether human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are distinct from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in their molecular signatures and differentiation properties. We examined the gene expression and DNA methylation of 49 hiPSC and 10 hESC lines and identified no molecular signatures that distinguished hiPSCs from hESCs. Comparisons of the in vitro directed neural differentiation of 40 hiPSC and four hESC lines showed that most hiPSC clones were comparable to hESCs. However, in seven hiPSC clones, significant amount of undifferentiated cells persisted even after neural differentiation and resulted in teratoma formation when transplantated into mouse brains. These differentiation-defective hiPSC clones were marked by higher expression of several genes, including those expressed from long terminal repeats of human endogenous retroviruses. These data demonstrated that many hiPSC clones are indistinguishable from hESCs, while some defective hiPSC clones need to be eliminated prior to their application for regenerative medicine. Bisulphite converted DNA from 10 hESCs, 49 hiPSCs, 2 hECCs, 6 somatic cells and 3 cancer cell lines were hybridized to the Illumina Infinium 27k Human Methylation Beadchip.
Project description:It remains controversial whether human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are distinct from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in their molecular signatures and differentiation properties. We examined the gene expression and DNA methylation of 49 hiPSC and 10 hESC lines and identified no molecular signatures that distinguished hiPSCs from hESCs. Comparisons of the in vitro directed neural differentiation of 40 hiPSC and four hESC lines showed that most hiPSC clones were comparable to hESCs. However, in seven hiPSC clones, significant amount of undifferentiated cells persisted even after neural differentiation and resulted in teratoma formation when transplantated into mouse brains. These differentiation-defective hiPSC clones were marked by higher expression of several genes, including those expressed from long terminal repeats of human endogenous retroviruses. These data demonstrated that many hiPSC clones are indistinguishable from hESCs, while some defective hiPSC clones need to be eliminated prior to their application for regenerative medicine. We extracted total RNA from 10 hESCs, 49 hiPSCs, 2 hECCs, 6 somatic cells and 3 cancer cell lines and hybridized them to Agilent miRNA expression microarrays.
Project description:It remains controversial whether human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are distinct from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in their molecular signatures and differentiation properties. We examined the gene expression and DNA methylation of 49 hiPSC and 10 hESC lines and identified no molecular signatures that distinguished hiPSCs from hESCs. Comparisons of the in vitro directed neural differentiation of 40 hiPSC and four hESC lines showed that most hiPSC clones were comparable to hESCs. However, in seven hiPSC clones, significant amount of undifferentiated cells persisted even after neural differentiation and resulted in teratoma formation when transplantated into mouse brains. These differentiation-defective hiPSC clones were marked by higher expression of several genes, including those expressed from long terminal repeats of human endogenous retroviruses. These data demonstrated that many hiPSC clones are indistinguishable from hESCs, while some defective hiPSC clones need to be eliminated prior to their application for regenerative medicine. We extracted total RNA from 10 hESCs and 40 hiPSCs, and hybridized them to Agilent gene expression microarrays.
Project description:It remains controversial whether human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are distinct from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in their molecular signatures and differentiation properties. We examined the gene expression and DNA methylation of 49 hiPSC and 10 hESC lines and identified no molecular signatures that distinguished hiPSCs from hESCs. Comparisons of the in vitro directed neural differentiation of 40 hiPSC and four hESC lines showed that most hiPSC clones were comparable to hESCs. However, in seven hiPSC clones, significant amount of undifferentiated cells persisted even after neural differentiation and resulted in teratoma formation when transplantated into mouse brains. These differentiation-defective hiPSC clones were marked by higher expression of several genes, including those expressed from long terminal repeats of human endogenous retroviruses. These data demonstrated that many hiPSC clones are indistinguishable from hESCs, while some defective hiPSC clones need to be eliminated prior to their application for regenerative medicine. We extracted total RNA from 10 hESCs, 49 hiPSCs, 2 hECCs, 6 somatic cells and 3 cancer cell lines and hybridized them to Agilent gene expression microarrays.
Project description:To gain insight into the molecular regulation of human heart development, a detailed comparison of the mRNA and miRNA transcriptomes across differentiating human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)–derived cardiomyocytes and biopsies from fetal, adult, and hypertensive human hearts was performed. Gene ontology analysis of the mRNA expression levels of the hiPSCs differentiating into cardiomyocytes revealed 3 distinct groups of genes: pluripotent specific, transitional cardiac specification, and mature cardiomyocyte specific. Hierarchical clustering of the mRNA data revealed that the transcriptome of hiPSC cardiomyocytes largely stabilizes 20 days after initiation of differentiation. Nevertheless, analysis of cells continuously cultured for 120 days indicated that the cardiomyocytes continued to mature toward a more adult-like gene expression pattern. Analysis of cardiomyocyte-specific miRNAs (miR-1, miR-133a/b, and miR-208a/b) revealed a miRNA pattern indicative of stem cell to cardiomyocyte specification. A biostatistitical approach integrated the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles revealing a cardiomyocyte differentiation miRNA network and identified putative mRNAs targeted by multiple miRNAs. Together, these data reveal the miRNA network in human heart development and support the notion that overlapping miRNA networks re-enforce transcriptional control during developmental specification. Comparison of mRNA expression profiling of differentiating human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)–derived cardiomyocytes, biopsies from fetal, adult and hypertensive human hearts and primary cardiomyocytes
Project description:In our study, PRDM14 and NFRkB were found to enhance the reprogramming of human fibroblasts to hiPSCs in the presence of OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, with/without c-MYC (OSK/OSKC). To examnie if the obtained hiPSC share similar expression signature with hESC, we conducted the microarray analysis on the hiPSCs, hESCs and fibroblasts. The result showed that all of the examined hiPSCs resembled hESCs, but differed from fibroblasts MRC5. 4 hiPSC lines, 2 hESC lines and 1 type of fibroblasts were analyzed in total. Each sample is done in duplicates.