Project description:The generation of pancreatic cell types from renewable cell sources holds promise for cell replacement therapies for diabetes. Although most effort has focused on generating pancreatic beta cells, there is considerable evidence that glucagon secreting alpha cells are critically involved in disease progression and proper glucose control. Here we report on the generation of stem cell-derived human pancreatic alpha (SC-alpha) cells from pluripotent stem cells via a transient pre-alpha cell intermediate. These pre-alpha cells exhibit a transcriptional profile similar to mature alpha cells and although they produce proinsulin protein, they do not secrete significant amounts of processed insulin. The resulting SC-alpha cells do not express insulin, share an ultrastructure similar to cadaveric alpha cells, express and secrete glucagon in response to glucose and some glucagon secretagogues, and elevate blood glucose upon transplantation in mice.
Project description:The generation of pancreatic cell types from renewable cell sources holds promise for cell replacement therapies for diabetes. Although most effort has focused on generating pancreatic beta cells, considerable evidence indicates that glucagon secreting alpha cells are critically involved in disease progression and proper glucose control. Here we report on the generation of stem cell-derived human pancreatic alpha (SC-alpha) cells from pluripotent stem cells via a transient pre-alpha cell intermediate. These pre-alpha cells exhibit a transcriptional profile similar to mature alpha cells and although they produce proinsulin protein, they do not secrete significant amounts of processed insulin. Compound screening identified a protein kinase c activator that promotes maturation of pre-alpha cells into SC-alpha cells. The resulting SC-alpha cells do not express insulin, share an ultrastructure similar to cadaveric alpha cells, express and secrete glucagon in response to glucose and some glucagon secretagogues, and elevate blood glucose upon transplantation in mice.
Project description:Pluripotent stem cells, which are capable to generate any cell type of the human body, such as human embryonic stem cells (hESC) or human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPS) are a very promising source of cells for regenerative medicine. However, the genesis, the in vitro amplification and the differentiation of these cells still need improvement before clinical use. This study aimed to improve our knowledge on these critical steps in pluripotent stem cell generation. We derived new hESC lines, generated hiPS and compared these cell types with human foreskin fibroblasts and partially reprogrammed fibroblasts. We included in the overall study hESC, hiPS, human foreskin fibroblasts and partially reprogrammed fibroblasts. Here, hESC lines derived from embryos were hybridized on U133 Plus 2.0 GeneChips (Affymetrix). All samples were normalized using the MAS5 (GCOS 1.2) algorithm, using the default analysis settings and global scaling as normalization method, with a trimmed mean target intensity value (TGT) of each array arbitrarily set to 100. Human pluripotent stem cells were compared with somatic samples and partially reprogrammed cells.
Project description:Corneal epithelial cells derived from hPSCs provides an important cells source for the construction of the in vitro preclinical models aimed for ophthalmic drugs tests. However, the recent differentiation protocols lack the optimal culturing conditions that hinder the robustness and the quality of cells as well as the scale-up application of cells production. Here we introduce a simplified, yet efficient small molecules-based corneal induction method (SSM-CI) for the generation of corneal epithelial cells from hPSCs. SSM-CI provides the advantage of minimization the cells culturing time and steps using only two defined xenobiotic-free and serum-free culturing mediums in combination with the TGFß pathway, Wnt/ß-catenin pathway signaling chemical inhibitors, and human bFGF growth factor for a period of 25 days. Compared to both conventional human corneal epithelial cell line (HCE-T) as well as the human primary corneal epithelial cells (hPCEpC), human embryonic stem cells derived corneal epithelial cells generated by SSM-CI has highly expressed major differentiation as well as maturation markers such as PAX6 and CK12. RNA-seq analysis indicated the genuine diversion of hPSCs into the corneal epithelium lineage where corneal progenitor and adult corneal epithelial phenotypes were significantly upregulated. Furthermore, despite the inhibition of TGF-β and Wnt/β-catenin at the early stage of differentiation, an upregulation of the TGF-β and Wnt/β-catenin pathways related transcripts we noticed in the late stage which indicated the necessity of these pathways in the generation of mature corneal epithelial cells. Moreover, there was a shift in gene signatures associated with the metabolic characteristics of mature corneal epithelial cells where a decrease of glycolysis related transcripts and an increase in fatty acid oxidation related one was noticed. That was also corresponded by the overexpression of metabolic enzymes and transporters related transcripts that were mainly responsible for the metabolism of fatty acids. Thus SSM-CI provide a comprehensive method for the generation of functional corneal epithelial cells that has the potential for the employment in future preclinical models.
Project description:We have developed a method to generate muscle stem cells from pluripotent stem cells via teratoma formation. The goal of this study is to compare the transcriptome of a7+ VCAM+ myogenic cells derived from pluripotent stem cells versus satellite cells