We would like to thank Patrick C. Lee, Cyril Ramathal, and Saravanan Karumbayaram (SK) for their assistance in performing the iPSC derivation and characterization experiments; Aaron Cooper for performing the iPSC analysis experiments; Vittorio Sebastiano and Renee A. Reijo Pera for directing the initial reprogramming efforts; SK, William E. Lowry, Jerome A. Zack, and Donald B. Kohn for directing the establishment of the UCLA GMP facilities permitting the conversion and characterization of clinical-grade iPSCs; Gustavo Mostoslavsky for providing us with the STEMCCA polycistronic reprogramming vector. This work is based on a research collaboration with Fibrocell Science and the Clinical Investigations for Dermal Mesenchymally Obtained Derivatives (CIDMOD) Initiative to generate safe personalized cellular therapeutics. This work was supported by funding from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, The Phelps Family Foundation, Fibrocell Science, Inc., and the UCLA CTSI Scholar&#8217;s Award to JAB.

NOTE: This method was used in the research reported in Awe et al.10.
1. Reprogramming Adult Human Dermal Fibroblasts with STEMCCA
<ol>
	<li>Thaw adult dermal human fibroblasts (HUFs), passage 4 or lower, in a 37 &#176;C water bath for 2 min, taking care not to submerge the top of the vial with water.</li>
	<li>Place the 1-ml slurry of human fibroblasts into a 15-ml conical vial and slowly place 4 ml of standard HUF media, pre-warmed to 37 &#176;C, in a drop-wise fashion, to dilute out dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and re-suspend cells.</li>
	<li>Centrifuge the vial at 200 x g for 10 min at room temperature. Aspirate the supernatant and re-suspend cells in an adequate volume of media to create a suspension of 100,000 cells/ml and then add 2 ml into one well of a six-well plate, pre-coated for 20 min with 0.2% gelatin. 
	NOTE: A sister well with an equal number of cells per line and condition needs to be seeded for the cell counting/multiplicity of infection (MOI) calculation.</li>
	<li>Rock the plate side to side and back and forth to evenly distribute the cells. Incubate overnight at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 in a humidified incubator.</li>
	<li>On the day of transduction, obtain cell count(s) from the sister well(s) approximately 24 hr after initial HUF plating.</li>
	<li>Thaw out 2 x 108 TU, or equivalent, lentiviral concentrate (STEMCCA) and dilute to 1 x 108 TU/ml in HUF media.</li>
	<li>Transduce cells at a 10-MOI ratio in HUF media supplemented with 8 &#181;g/ml transfection agent. Mix transduced wells evenly and incubate overnight at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 in a humidified incubator.</li>
	<li>Approximately 24 hr after lentiviral transduction, switch the HUF media to standard human pluripotent stem cell (PSC) medium.</li>
	<li>On days 2 through 6, change media daily with human PSC medium.</li>
	<li>On day 6, plate two 0.2% gelatin-coated 10-cm plates of 1.5 to 1.75 x 106 MEFs derived from CF1 mice in HUF media 12.</li>
	<li>On day 7, being careful not to centrifuge more than 100 x g, use room temperature trypsin to lift off the day 7 reprogrammed fibroblasts from one well of the six-well plate and passage at a 1:16 ratio, by plating all cells evenly between two 10 cm plates, with fresh human PSC media, that were plated with MEFs the day before. Distribute cell aggregates in a clockwise spiral movement and place in a 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 humidified incubator overnight.</li>
	<li>Approximately 48 hr after seeding the reprogrammed cells onto MEFs and every day thereafter, change out spent human PSC media with fresh media.</li>
	<li>After 3 to 4 weeks, pick individual colonies with typical ESC like morphology with a 21-gauge needle and subclone out into a 24-well plate by placing approximately 8 to 10 individual pieces of specific colonies into individual wells in a 0.2% gelatin-coated 24-well plate pre-seeded with MEFs derived from CF1 mice in human PSC medium. 
	NOTE: After expansion of picked colonies, the colonies have to be characterized as pluripotent by embryoid body formation and expression analysis of pluripotency markers at the protein level.</li>
</ol>
2. Vector Integration Site Analysis and STEMCCA Excision
<ol>
	<li>Analyze the STEMCCA integration site by non-restrictive linear amplification PCR as described10.</li>
	<li>After assaying to ensure one integration into a desired area of the genome, excise STEMCCA by aspirating off the old human ESC medium. Then, combine 45 &#181;l of concentrated Adeno-Cre-PuroR virus with 8 &#181;g/ml transfection agent in 3 ml of standard PSC media for 24 hr.</li>
	<li>After the 24-hr incubation period, aspirate off the mixed viral supernatant and wash the cells twice with human PSC media. Place fresh human PSC media along with 2 &#181;g/ml puromycin for a period of 5 days, changing the media daily with fresh media and antibiotic.</li>
	<li>After 5 days, subclone remaining colonies with a 21-gauge needle onto 0.2% gelatin-coated wells, in a 12-well plate pre-coated with MEFs derived from CF1mice and expand as detailed above. 
	NOTE: After sufficient expansion to obtain a frozen stock, conversion into feeder-free conditions is required. Expect at least 95% stem cell colony death as most cells will not be successfully transduced and will succumb to antibiotic over the 5 day period of incubation. Although Adeno-Cre-PuroR integrates at a 0.001-1% efficiency into host chromosomes of infected cells, reexposing a sample of factor-free colonies to puromycin to ensure 100% cell death will confirm no integration has occurred13.</li>
	<li>Thaw out one vial of pre-aliquoted basement membrane matrix on ice, over a period of approximately 2 hr (manufacturer&#8217;s recommendations) until the matrix is a liquid and dilute out to a final concentration of 1:30 in cold basal media. Coat desired number of wells in a six-well plate with 1 ml per well. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hr.</li>
	<li>Cross-hatch (using an 18-gauge needle, or a glass or plastic &#8220;tip&#8221;) at least 20 to 30 colonies from a well previously coated with MEFs. Be careful to reduce MEF uplifting and transfer from plate.
	<ol>
		<li>Generate the cross-hatching device through a number of different approaches, from the more complicated heating, pulling, and finishing of a glass Pasteur pipette on an open flame, to the simple usage of a sterile plastic pipette tip or, as in our case, 21- and/or 18-gauge needles.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Aspirate the matrix from the coated well after incubation.</li>
	<li>Remove pieces of the colonies by gentle scraping from the old plate with a 200-&#181;l pipettor and carefully place into 3 ml of fresh combined media 1 in the matrix-coated plate. Incubate overnight in a 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 humidified incubator. Change media 48 hr after passaging.</li>
	<li>Extract genomic DNA from post-excised and feeder-free converted hiPSCs, at more than 80% confluency, using commercial DNA extraction kits.</li>
	<li>Analyze for proper excision with primers specific for exogenous integrations of the STEMCCA lentivirus: gDNA-hendo-MycS-forward, 5&#8242;-acgagcacaagctcacctct-3&#8242;; gDNA-hWPRE-reverse, 5&#8242;-tcagcaaacacagtgcacacc-3&#8242;. Reconstitute lyophilized primers with PCR-grade water to a 10-&#181;M stock solution.</li>
	<li>Run a PCR with the following five-step protocol: initial denaturation at 95 &#176;C for 3 min; 35 cycles of each of the following: denaturation at 98 &#176;C for 20 sec, primer annealing at 62 &#176;C for 15 sec, and extension at 72 &#176;C for 15 sec; followed by a single cycle final extension at 72 &#176;C for 3 min.</li>
	<li>Make a 3% agarose gel by weighing out 1.5 grams of agarose and placing it into 50 ml 1x Tris-acetate-EDTA buffer. Microwave until agarose is dissolved and place in DNA gel stain at proper dilution, mix, and dispense proper volume into gel cassette to solidify for 1 hr at room temperature.</li>
	<li>Load 12 &#181;l of PCR product mixed with 3 &#181;l of loading dye into a 3% agarose gel. Run the gel for 30 min at 80 V.</li>
	<li>Visualize with ultraviolet light for the absence of a band indicating proper excision.</li>
</ol>
3. Quantitation of Gene Expression Differences by Using Quantitative PCR from Pre- and Post-excised hiPSCs
<ol>
	<li>Extract total RNA from post-excised and feeder-free converted hiPSCs by using commercial RNA extraction kits.</li>
	<li>Reverse-transcribe up to 1 &#181;g of total RNA by using commercial kits in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer. Use anchored-oligo(dT)18 and random hexamer primers. 
	NOTE: Ensure that the PCR protocol is tailored for gene transcripts of more than or less than 4 kb. Specific primers will need to be made for whichever gene STEMCCA originally integrated into.</li>
	<li>Reconstitute the lyophilized primer with PCR-grade water to a 20 &#181;M stock solution.</li>
	<li>Use 5 ng of sample per 20 &#181;l of reaction that consists of 10 &#181;M UPL probe, 2x LightCycler 480 Probes Master, and 20 &#181;M forward and reverse primers.</li>
</ol>
4. Conversion into GMP-grade Conditions
<ol>
	<li>On the first day of transitioning the post-excised hiPSCs over to GMP-grade conditions, make a blend of media consisting of human PSC combined media 1 (combined media 1) and clinical grade good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliant media (combined media 2) at an 80:20 ratio.</li>
	<li>Aspirate off the old combined media 1 and place 3 ml of the new combined media 1 and 2, pre-warmed, at the 80:20 ratio. Change media daily for 3 days with this specific ratio. Place cells back into a 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 incubator.</li>
	<li>On day 4, make the combined media 1 and 2 at a 50:50 ratio. Aspirate off the old medium and replace with pre-warmed media, with the combined media 1 and 2 at the 50:50 ratio. Change media for 3 days with this specific ratio. Place cells back into a 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 incubator.</li>
	<li>On day 7, make the combined media 1 and 2 at a 20:80 ratio. Aspirate off the old medium and replace with pre-warmed media, with the combined media 1 and 2 at the 20:80 ratio. Change media for 3 days with this specific ratio. Place cells back into a 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 incubator.</li>
	<li>On day 10, make the combined media 1 and 2 at a 0:100 ratio. Aspirate off the old medium and replace with pre-warmed media, with the combined media 1 and 2 at the 0:100 ratio. Change media every day at this specific ratio. Cells are now in completely defined xeno-free media. Place cells back into a 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 incubator. 
	NOTE: During this entire conversion process, routine passaging with an 18-gauge needle is needed to maintain proper colony size and density. Plan on passaging cells every 4 to 5 days on the basis of colony size, confluency, and differentiation.</li>
	<li>Coat one well in a six-well plate with a defined xeno-free substrate as recommended by the manufacturer.</li>
	<li>Mechanically passage a confluent well, already converted to xeno-free media conditions, from a six-well plate with an 18-gauge needle. Importantly, place new media (combined media 2) on the cells with 1x ROCK inhibitor for 1 hr, before passaging to pre-condition the media.</li>
	<li>Aspirate the synthetic substrate solution off the new plate that the cells are being transferred to. Remove all the media containing the stem cell clumps from the old plate and transfer to new plate.</li>
	<li>Place cells back into a 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 incubator for 2 days with minimal physical disturbance (ideally plates, once inside incubator, are not directly touched in any way) to allow maximum attachment. 
	NOTE: Cells will require daily media changes. Continual passaging every 4 days will be important. Using a 21-gauge needle, passage only the parts of colonies with optimal ESC-like morphology (high nucleocytoplasmic ratio). This will ensure selection for proper hiPSC colonies that will grow well and eventually yield homogenous colonies. Overall time to derivation of ESC like colonies is between 15-20 days after the initial combined media change.</li>
	<li>Freeze down the GMP-grade post-excised hiPSCs by first cross-hatch all of the colonies by using an 18-gauge needle. Lift all the pieces off by using a 200 &#181;l pipettor and transfer all media containing the cells to a 15 ml conical vial and centrifuge at 200 x g for 5 min at 4 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>While the cells are centrifuging, make a freezing media consisting of equal volumes of cold combined media 2 and freezing medium with a final DMSO concentration of 7.5%.</li>
	<li>After cells are pelleted, aspirate off old medium and drop-wise re-suspend the pellet with the freezing media. Immediately transfer to freezing vials and put in a &#8722;80 &#176;C freezer.</li>
</ol>
5. Characterizing GMP-grade Post-excised hiPSCs
<ol>
	<li>To ensure proper expression of pluripotency markers post-conversion, use QPCR to quantify expression of key pluripotency markers (SOX2, OCT4, and NANOG) by using the primers listed in Table 1 with the same steps as mentioned in step 3. QPCR methodologies follow the same steps as listed in step 3.</li>
	<li>Use flow cytometry to detect the non-human sialic acid Neu5Gc (N-glycolylneuraminic acid) in accordance with standard conditions listed in the kit as previously published10.</li>
	<li>Gently wash the cell culture plates with cells by using 1x phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).</li>
	<li>Dissociate colonies by using 1x dissociation reagent for 5 min at room temperature.</li>
	<li>During the 5-min incubation time of step 5.4, prepare the blocking solution (provided in kit) by making a 0.5% Blocking Agent in ice-cold PBS.</li>
	<li>Label the following set of tubes for flow cytometry analysis: Unstained; 4&#8242;,6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) DAPI; Control antibody 1:200; Primary antibody 1:200; Secondary antibody 1:200 Donkey Anti-Chicken IgG (H+L); Sample MEFs; Sample post-excised cells on matrix; and Sample post-excised cells on synthetic substrate.</li>
	<li>Gently dislodge cell aggregates from step 5.4 by adding 2 ml of blocking solution and transfer contents to a 15-ml conical tube. Centrifuge at 80 x g for 5 min at 4 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>Wash the cells twice with blocking solution and centrifuge as stated in step 5.7.</li>
	<li>Gently re-suspend approximately 1 x 106 cells in 100 &#181;l of blocking solution with the corresponding dilution volume of each antibody. Incubate with gentle rocking at 4 &#176;C for 1 hr.</li>
	<li>Repeat washes three times as in step 5.8.</li>
	<li>Re-suspend the cell pellet in 400 &#181;l of Diluent Buffer (from kit) with 1:100 of DAPI for tubes 2, 6, 7, and 8 as listed under step 5.6.</li>
	<li>Strain cells through a 40 &#181;M strainer and run through flow cytometer.</li>
</ol>

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James A. Byrne (JAB) and Agustin Vega-Crespo receive research funding from Fibrocell Science, Inc. JAB is a scientific consultant for Fibrocell Science, Inc. No other authors have any competing interests to disclose.

We describe a methodology of deriving factor-free hiPSCs and making them clinically relevant by converting these cells into GMP-grade conditions for downstream cell differentiation in future human therapeutics. Although this protocol is broadly applicable to a variety of cell types, we chose to reprogram human dermal fibroblasts, due to the ease of extraction from the patient and their applicability to personalized human therapeutics. Once limitations are remedied as far as full differentiation into clinically relevant c...

Adult human cells have been shown to be capable of undergoing epigenetic remodeling and reprogramming, as a result of lentiviral-based expression of four key transcription factors4,5. An important advancement in the reprogramming field was the use of a single excisable lentiviral stem cell cassette (STEMCCA), which housed all four reprogramming transcription factors that allowed a precise stoichiometric ratio of protein expression6. Additionally, when transduced in specific multiplicity of infection ranges, STEMCCA can lead to predominantly single genomic integration events during the reprogramming process7. The introduction of an excisable version of STEMCCA, which utilizes Cre/loxP technology followed by excision of the reprogramming vector after derivation of the stem cell line, enabled factor-free human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines to be derived8. Additionally, in order to enhance therapeutic applications of hiPSCs, a novel, quick, and readily applicable methodology for good manufacturing practice (GMP)-grade cell line conversion, from xeno-containing to xeno-free conditions, needed to be implemented. Here, we discuss a relevant methodology that more precisely assesses integrated gene expression differences, specifically when integrated into an intron, and clinical-grade cell conversion into putative GMP conditions. 
Previous research has used only relatively insensitive microarray transcriptional analysis to analyze gene expression differences in integrated genes after STEMCCA transduction3,9. Here, we introduce the methodology of sensitive quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, to further examine integrated gene expression differences. Importantly, current safe-harbor criteria discard hiPSCs that have genes with viral integrations, thus limiting the applicability of these cells for downstream human cellular therapeutics9. We propose that the status quo may change with the use of fully characterized and transgene-free intronically reprogrammed hiPSCs. Additionally, we introduce a robust GMP-grade cell conversion protocol that can be readily applied to a variety of different cell types, which were originally derived under xeno-containing conditions10. This provides significant opportunities for the development of future cell reprogramming experiments, which require clinical-grade conditions to maintain human therapeutic relevance. 
These methodologies provide a foundation upon which current safe-harbor criteria may be expanded to include characterized STEMCCA reprogrammed hiPSC lines that maintain a normal gene expression profile after STEMCCA excision from the integrated intron. Also, full conversion into clinical-grade conditions, free from non-human animal antigens, will help to incorporate many more cell types, which have previously been reprogrammed and characterized only in xeno-containing conditions. These methodologies combined, are persuasive grounds for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider expanding their limited approval from human embryonic stem cell (ESC)-based therapeutics to hiPSC-based therapeutics11. 
We recently detailed the derivation of a factor-free hiPSC line that was fully characterized and converted into putative clinical-grade conditions10. Here, we detail the protocol for hiPSC derivation by utilizing the STEMCCA lentivirus. These stem cells then undergo an excision process followed by gene expression characterization. Finally, the hiPSCs are converted over into GMP-grade conditions by a slow conversion methodology.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="521">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;width:140px;">Name</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Company</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">Catalog Number</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td colspan="4" height="21" style="height:21px;width:521px;">Media and reagents</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">DMEM/F12 (basal media)</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen (Carlsbad, CA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">11330057</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">Fetal bovine serum</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">16000044</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:106px;width:140px;">Minimum essential medium (MEM) non-essential amino acids (NEAA), 100x</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">11140050</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;width:140px;">Glutamax, 100x</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">35050-061</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">PenStrep, penicillin-streptomycin, 100x</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">15140-122</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Thaw at 4 &#176;C, aliquot and store at &#8722;20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">Knockout serum replacement</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">10828028</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Thaw at 4 &#176;C, aliquot and store at &#8722;20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">Trypsin/EDTA, 0.5%</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">15400-054</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Dilute stock out to 0.05% in 1x PBS</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="127">
			<td height="127" style="height:127px;width:140px;">Basic fibroblast growth factor</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">GlobalStem (Rockville, MD, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">GSR-2001</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Reconstitute to 10 &#181;g/ml stock in 0.1% bovine serum albumin dissolved in 1x PBS and store at &#8722;80 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">&#946;-mercaptoethanol</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Millipore (Billerica, MA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">ES-007-E</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="127">
			<td height="127" style="height:127px;width:140px;">Matrigel (basement membrane matrix)</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">BD Biosciences (San Jose, CA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">356231</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Dilute stock Matrigel vial with 10 ml of DMEM/F12 while on ice for a 1:2 dilution. Aliquot and store at &#8722;20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">CELLstart (Synthetic Substrate)</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">A1014201</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">Stemmolecule Y27632</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Stemgent (Cambridge, MA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">04-0012-02</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;width:140px;">Puromycin</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">A1113802</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">LightCycler 480 Probes Master</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Roche (Basel, Switzerland)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">4707494001</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">ProFreeze-CDM Medium/freezing medium</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Lonza (Basel, Switzerland)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">12-769E</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">Dimethyl sulfoxide</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">D8418</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;width:140px;">PBS</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">14190-250</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">100 BP DNA Ladder</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">15628019</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">SYBR Safe DNA Gel Stain 10000x</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">S33102</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="89">
			<td height="89" style="height:89px;width:140px;">Agarose</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (Hercules, CA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">161-3101</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="85">
			<td height="85" style="height:85px;width:140px;">Gelatin, from porcine skin</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">G1890-100G</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Make stock at 0.2% in PBS, autoclave and store at room temperature</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="127">
			<td height="127" style="height:127px;width:140px;">mTeSR1</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">StemCell Technologies (Vancouver, BC, Canada)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">5850</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Combine Supplement 5X with the basic medium, aliquot and store at 4 &#176;C for up to 2 weeks.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="85">
			<td height="85" style="height:85px;width:140px;">Stemedia NutriStem XF/FF Culture Medium</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Stemgent</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">05-100-1A</td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Thaw at 4 &#176;C O/N, aliquot and store at 4 &#176;C for up to 2 weeks.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">Primocin</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">InvivoGen (San Diego, CA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">ant-pm-1</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">Accutase (Dissociation Reagent)</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">A1110501</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="85">
			<td height="85" style="height:85px;width:140px;">Donkey anti-Chicken IgG AlexaFluor 488</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Jackson ImmunoResearch (West Grove, PA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">703-546-155</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">Polybrene/transfection agent</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Millipore</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">TR-1003-G</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td colspan="4" height="22" style="height:22px;width:521px;">Plasticware</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">12-well plates</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">VWR (West Chester, PA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">29442-038</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;width:140px;">6-well plates</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">VWR</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">29442-042</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">10-cm plates</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">Z688819</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">18-gauge needle</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Fisher Scientific (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">148265D</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;width:140px;">21-gauge needle</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">14-829-10D</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td colspan="4" height="22" style="height:22px;width:521px;">Equipment</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">BD LSRII Flow Cytometer</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">KSystem by Nikon (Tokyo, Japan)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;"></td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">BD FACSDiva Version 6.1.3 Software</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">BD Biosciences</td>
			<td style="width:136px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td colspan="4" height="22" style="height:22px;width:521px;">Kits</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">PureLink Genomic DNA Mini Kit</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">K182000</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="85">
			<td height="85" style="height:85px;width:140px;">KAPA HiFi Hotstart ReadyMix PCR Kit</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">KAPA Biosystems (Wilmington, MA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">KK2601</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:140px;">High Pure RNA Isolation Kit</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">11828665001</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="66">
			<td height="66" style="height:66px;width:140px;">Transcriptor First Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">4379012001</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="54">
			<td height="54" style="height:54px;width:140px;">Sialix anti-Neu5Gc Basic Pack Kit</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Sialix (Newton, MA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">Basic Pack</td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="54">
			<td height="54" style="height:54px;width:140px;">Media</td>
			<td style="width:111px;"></td>
			<td style="width:136px;"></td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">Combined media 1</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">StemCell Technologies and Stemgent</td>
			<td style="width:136px;"></td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Consists of equal parts mTeSR1 and Nutristem</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="64">
			<td height="64" style="height:64px;width:140px;">Combined media 2</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">StemCell Technologies and Stemgent</td>
			<td style="width:136px;"></td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Consists of equal parts TeSR2 and Nutristem</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="190">
			<td height="190" style="height:190px;width:140px;">HUF Media</td>
			<td style="width:111px;"></td>
			<td style="width:136px;"></td>
			<td style="width:135px;">Dulbecco&#8217;s modified Eagle&#8217;s medium/F12 [DMEM/F12] supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 1x non-essential amino acids, 1x Glutamax, and 1x Primocin</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="253">
			<td height="253" style="height:253px;width:140px;">Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Media</td>
			<td style="width:111px;"></td>
			<td style="width:136px;"></td>
			<td style="width:135px;">DMEM/F12 supplemented with 20% knockout serum replacement, 1x Glutamax, 1x non-essential amino acids, 1x Primocin, 1x &#946;-mercaptoethanol, and 10 ng/ml basic fibroblast growth factor</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td colspan="2" height="22" style="height:22px;">DMEM/F12, Dulbecco&#8217;s modified Eagle&#8217;s medium/F12; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline.</td>
			<td style="width:136px;"></td>
			<td style="width:135px;"></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

derivation and characterization of a transgene-free human induced pluripotent stem cell line and conversion into defined clinical-grade conditions

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) can be generated with lentiviral-based reprogramming methodologies. However, traces of potentially oncogenic genes remaining in actively transcribed regions of the genome, limit their potential for use in human therapeutic applications1. Additionally, non-human antigens derived from stem cell reprogramming or differentiation into therapeutically relevant derivatives preclude these hiPSCs from being used in a human clinical context2. In this video, we present a procedure for reprogramming and analyzing factor-free hiPSCs free of exogenous transgenes. These hiPSCs then can be analyzed for gene expression abnormalities in the specific intron containing the lentivirus. This analysis may be conducted using sensitive quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which has an advantage over less sensitive techniques previously used to detect gene expression differences3. Full conversion into clinical-grade good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions, allows human clinical relevance. Our protocol offers another methodology&#8212;provided that current safe-harbor criteria will expand and include factor-free characterized hiPSC-based derivatives for human therapeutic applications&#8212;for deriving GMP-grade hiPSCs, which should eliminate any immunogenicity risk due to non-human antigens. This protocol is broadly applicable to lentiviral reprogrammed cells of any type and provides a reproducible method for converting reprogrammed cells into GMP-grade conditions.

We present a protocol for deriving clinical-grade factor-free hiPSCs by using the STEMCCA lentiviral-based reprogramming approach. Figure 1A shows a representative picture of three different pre-excised hiPSC lines, after reprogramming with the STEMCCA approach on a layer of MEFs. The primary advantage of the STEMCCA reprogramming approach lies in the consistent reprogramming success achieved by multiple scientists, in different research groups and locations. Figure 1B presents the post-...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Derivation and Characterization of a Transgene-free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Line and Conversion into Defined Clinical-grade Conditions at JoVE.com

Derivation and Characterization of a Transgene-free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Line and Conversion into Defined Clinical-grade Conditions

We describe a protocol for deriving lentiviral-based reprogrammed and characterized factor-free human induced pluripotent stem cells and conversion into putative clinical-grade conditions.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) can be generated with lentiviral-based reprogramming methodologies. However, traces of potentially oncogenic ...

derivation-characterization-transgene-free-human-induced-pluripotent

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

7.8K Views.  University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). We describe a protocol for deriving lentiviral-based reprogrammed and characterized factor-free human induced pluripotent stem cells and conversion into putative clinical-grade conditions. 

Video: Derivation and Characterization of a Transgene-free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Line and Conversion into Defined Clinical-grade Conditions

Derivation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells by Immunosurgery

The ability of human embryonic stem cells to self-renew and differentiate into all cell types of 
the body suggests that they hold great promise for both medical applications and as a research 
tool for addressing fundamental questions in development and disease. Here, we provide a 
concise, step-by-step protocol for the derivation of human embryonic stem cells from embryos 
by immunosurgical isolation of the inner cell mass. 


The ability of human embryonic stem cells to self-renew and differentiate into all cell types of 
the body suggests that they hold great promise for both medical applications and as a research 
tool for addressing fundamental questions in development and disease. Here, we provide a 
concise, step-by-step protocol for the derivation of human embryonic stem cells from embryos 
by immunosurgical isolation of the inner cell mass.

The ability of human embryonic stem cells to self-renew and differentiate into all cell types of 
the body suggests that they hold great promise for both ...

Isolation and Derivation of Mouse Embryonic Germinal Cells

The ability of embryonic germinal cells (EG) to differentiate into primordial germinal cells (PGCs) and later into gametes during early developmental stages is a perfect model to address our hypothesis about cancer and infertility. This protocol shows how to isolate primordial germinal cells from developing gonads in 10.5-11.5 days post coitum (dpc) mouse embryos.  Developing gonadal ridges from mouse embryos (C57BL6J) were dissociated by mechanical disruption with collagenase, then plated in a mouse embryo fibroblast feeder layer (MEF-CF1) that was previously mitotically inactivated with mitomycin C in the presence of knockout media and supplemented with Leukemia Inhibitor Factor (LIF), basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF), and Stem Cell Factor (SCF).  Using these optimized methods for PCG identification, isolation, and establishment of culture conditions permits long term cultures of EG cells for more than 40 days.  The embryonic germinal cell lines showed embryonic phenotype and expression of common used markers of the pluripotent state.  Isolation and derivation of germinal cells in culture provide a tool to understand their development in vitro and offer the opportunity to monitor cumulative damage at genetic and epigenetic levels after exposure to oxidative stress.

The ability of embryonic germinal cells to differentiate into primordial germinal cells during early development stages is a perfect model to address our hypothesis about cancer and infertility. This protocol shows how to isolate primordial germinal cells from developing gonads in 10.5-11.5 days post coitum mouse embryos.

The ability of embryonic germinal cells (EG) to differentiate into primordial germinal cells (PGCs) and later into gametes during early developmental ...

Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells into Oligodendrocyte Precursors

Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system. For regenerative cell therapy in demyelinating diseases, there is significant interest in deriving a pure population of lineage-committed oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) for transplantation. OPCs are characterized by the activity of the transcription factor Olig2 and surface expression of a proteoglycan NG2. Using the GFP-Olig2 (G-Olig2) mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) reporter line, we optimized conditions for the differentiation of mESCs into GFP+Olig2+NG2+ OPCs. In our protocol, we first describe the generation of embryoid bodies (EBs) from mESCs. Second, we describe treatment of mESC-derived EBs with small molecules: (1) retinoic acid (RA) and (2) a sonic hedgehog (Shh) agonist purmorphamine (Pur) under defined culture conditions to direct EB differentiation into the oligodendroglial lineage. By this approach, OPCs can be obtained with high efficiency (&gt;80%) in a time period of 30 days. Cells derived from mESCs in this protocol are phenotypically similar to OPCs derived from primary tissue culture. The mESC-derived OPCs do not show the spiking property described for a subpopulation of brain OPCs in situ. To study this electrophysiological property, we describe the generation of spiking mESC-derived OPCs by ectopically expressing NaV1.2 subunit. The spiking and nonspiking cells obtained from this protocol will help advance functional studies on the two subpopulations of OPCs.

We describe a small molecule-based protocol for differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). This protocol generates Olig2+NG2+ OPCs with high efficiency by 30 days of differentiation. We also describe a method to generate "spiking" OPCs that can fire action potentials.

Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system. For regenerative cell therapy in demyelinating diseases, there is significant ...

Transfecting and Nucleofecting Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Genetic modification is continuing to be an essential tool in studying stem cell biology and in setting forth potential clinical applications of human embryonic stem cells (HESCs)1. While improvements in several gene delivery methods have been described2-9, transfection remains a capricious process for HESCs, and has not yet been reported in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). In this video, we demonstrate how our lab routinely transfects and nucleofects human iPSCs using plasmid with an enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP) reporter. Human iPSCs are adapted and maintained as feeder-free cultures to eliminate the possibility of feeder cell transfection and to allow efficient selection of stable transgenic iPSC clones following transfection. For nucleofection, human iPSCs are pre-treated with ROCK inhibitor11, trypsinized into small clumps of cells, nucleofected and replated on feeders in feeder cell-conditioned medium to enhance cell recovery. Transgene-expressing human iPSCs can be obtained after 6 hours. Antibiotic selection is applied after 24 hours and stable transgenic lines appear within 1 week. Our protocol is robust and reproducible for human iPSC lines without altering pluripotency of these cells.

Despite recent advancements in genetic modification, transfection of human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) remains a capricious process. To our knowledge, systematic and efficient methods to transfect human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have not been reported. Here, we describe robust protocols to efficiently transfect and nucleofect human iPSCs.

Genetic modification is continuing to be an essential tool in studying stem cell biology and in setting forth potential clinical applications of human ...

Efficient Derivation of Human Cardiac Precursors and Cardiomyocytes from Pluripotent Human Embryonic Stem Cells with Small Molecule Induction

To date, the lack of a suitable human cardiac cell source has been the major setback in regenerating the human myocardium, either by cell-based transplantation or by cardiac tissue engineering1-3. Cardiomyocytes become terminally-differentiated soon after birth and lose their ability to proliferate. There is no evidence that stem/progenitor cells derived from other sources, such as the bone marrow or the cord blood, are able to give rise to the contractile heart muscle cells following transplantation into the heart1-3. The need to regenerate or repair the damaged heart muscle has not been met by adult stem cell therapy, either endogenous or via cell delivery1-3. The genetically stable human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have unlimited expansion ability and unrestricted plasticity, proffering a pluripotent reservoir for in vitro derivation of large supplies of human somatic cells that are restricted to the lineage in need of repair and regeneration4,5. Due to the prevalence of cardiovascular disease worldwide and acute shortage of donor organs, there is intense interest in developing hESC-based therapies as an alternative approach. However, how to channel the wide differentiation potential of pluripotent hESCs efficiently and predictably to a desired phenotype has been a major challenge for both developmental study and clinical translation. Conventional approaches rely on multi-lineage inclination of pluripotent cells through spontaneous germ layer differentiation, resulting in inefficient and uncontrollable lineage-commitment that is often followed by phenotypic heterogeneity and instability, hence, a high risk of tumorigenicity6-8 (see a schematic in Fig. 1A). In addition, undefined foreign/animal biological supplements and/or feeders that have typically been used for the isolation, expansion, and differentiation of hESCs may make direct use of such cell-specialized grafts in patients problematic9-11. To overcome these obstacles, we have resolved the elements of a defined culture system necessary and sufficient for sustaining the epiblast pluripotence of hESCs, serving as a platform for de novo derivation of clinically-suitable hESCs and effectively directing such hESCs uniformly towards clinically-relevant lineages by small molecules12 (see a schematic in Fig. 1B). After screening a variety of small molecules and growth factors, we found that such defined conditions rendered nicotinamide (NAM) sufficient to induce the specification of cardiomesoderm direct from pluripotent hESCs that further progressed to cardioblasts that generated human beating cardiomyocytes with high efficiency (Fig. 2). We defined conditions for induction of cardioblasts direct from pluripotent hESCs without an intervening multi-lineage embryoid body stage, enabling well-controlled efficient derivation of a large supply of human cardiac cells across the spectrum of developmental stages for cell-based therapeutics.

We have established a protocol for induction of cardioblasts direct from pluripotent human embryonic stem cells maintained under defined conditions with small molecules, which enables derivation of a large supply of human cardiac progenitors and functional cardiomyocytes for cardiovascular repair.

To date, the lack of a suitable human cardiac cell source has been the major setback in regenerating the human myocardium, either by cell-based ...

Selecting and Isolating Colonies of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Reprogrammed from Adult Fibroblasts

Herein we present a protocol of reprogramming human adult fibroblasts into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) using retroviral vectors encoding Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-myc (OSKM) in the presence of sodium butyrate 1-3. We used this method to reprogram late passage (&gt;p10) human adult fibroblasts derived from Friedreich's ataxia patient (GM03665, Coriell Repository). The reprogramming approach includes highly efficient transduction protocol using repetitive centrifugation of fibroblasts in the presence of virus-containing media. The reprogrammed hiPSC colonies were identified using live immunostaining for Tra-1-81, a surface marker of pluripotent cells, separated from non-reprogrammed fibroblasts and manually passaged 4,5. These hiPSC were then transferred to Matrigel plates and grown in feeder-free conditions, directly from the reprogramming plate. Starting from the first passage, hiPSC colonies demonstrate characteristic hES-like morphology. Using this protocol more than 70% of selected colonies can be successfully expanded and established into cell lines. The established hiPSC lines displayed characteristic pluripotency markers including surface markers TRA-1-60 and SSEA-4, as well as nuclear markers Oct3/4, Sox2 and Nanog. 
The protocol presented here has been established and tested using adult fibroblasts obtained from Friedreich's ataxia patients and control individuals 6, human newborn fibroblasts, as well as human keratinocytes.

We present a protocol for efficient reprogramming of human somatic cells into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) using retroviral vectors encoding Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-myc (OSKM) and identification of correctly reprogrammed hiPSC by live staining with Tra-1-81 antibody.

Herein we present a protocol of reprogramming human adult fibroblasts into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) using retroviral vectors encoding ...

Reprogramming Human Somatic Cells into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) Using Retroviral Vector with GFP

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent and an invaluable cellular sources for in vitro disease modeling and regenerative medicine1. It has been previously shown that human somatic cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotency by ectopic expression of four transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and Myc) and become induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)2-4 . Like hESCs, human iPSCs are pluripotent and a potential source for autologous cells. Here we describe the protocol to reprogram human fibroblast cells with the four reprogramming factors cloned into GFP-containing retroviral backbone4. Using the following protocol, we generate human iPSCs in 3-4 weeks under human ESC culture condition. Human iPSC colonies closely resemble hESCs in morphology and display the loss of GFP fluorescence as a result of retroviral transgene silencing. iPSC colonies isolated mechanically under a fluorescence microscope behave in a similar fashion as hESCs. In these cells, we detect the expression of multiple pluripotency genes and surface markers.

Reprogramming Human Somatic Cells into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells iPSCs Using Retroviral Vector with GFP

A method to generate human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) via retrovirus-mediated ectopic expression of OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and MYC is described. A practical way to identify human iPSC colonies based on GFP expression is also discussed.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent and an invaluable cellular sources for in vitro disease modeling and regenerative medicine1. It has ...

Generation of Human Cardiomyocytes: A Differentiation Protocol from Feeder-free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

In order to investigate the events driving heart development and to determine the molecular mechanisms leading to myocardial diseases in humans, it is essential first to generate functional human cardiomyocytes (CMs). The use of these cells in drug discovery and toxicology studies would also be highly beneficial, allowing new pharmacological molecules for the treatment of cardiac disorders to be validated pre-clinically on cells of human origin. Of the possible sources of CMs, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are among the most promising, as they can be derived directly from readily accessible patient tissue and possess an intrinsic capacity to give rise to all cell types of the body 1. Several methods have been proposed for differentiating iPS cells into CMs, ranging from the classical embryoid bodies (EBs) aggregation approach to chemically defined protocols 2,3. In this article we propose an EBs-based protocol and show how this method can be employed to efficiently generate functional CM-like cells from feeder-free iPS cells.

Pluripotent stem cells, either embryonic or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, constitute a valuable source of human differentiated cells, including cardiomyocytes. Here, we will focus on cardiac induction of iPS cells, showing how to use them to obtain functional human cardiomyocytes through an embryoid bodies-based protocol.

In order to investigate the events driving heart development and to determine the molecular mechanisms leading to myocardial diseases in humans, it is ...

Efficient Generation Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Somatic Cells with Sendai-virus

A few years ago, the establishment of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) ushered in a new era in biomedicine. Potential uses of human iPSCs include modeling pathogenesis of human genetic diseases, autologous cell therapy after gene correction, and personalized drug screening by providing a source of patient-specific and symptom relevant cells. However, there are several hurdles to overcome, such as eliminating the remaining reprogramming factor transgene expression after human iPSCs production. More importantly, residual transgene expression in undifferentiated human iPSCs could hamper proper differentiations and misguide the interpretation of disease-relevant in vitro phenotypes. With this reason, integration-free and/or transgene-free human iPSCs have been developed using several methods, such as adenovirus, the piggyBac system, minicircle vector, episomal vectors, direct protein delivery and synthesized mRNA. However, efficiency of reprogramming using integration-free methods is quite low in most cases.
Here, we present a method to isolate human iPSCs by using Sendai-virus (RNA virus) based reprogramming system. This reprogramming method shows consistent results and high efficiency in cost-effective manner.

Here, we present our established method to reprogram human somatic cells into transgene-free human iPSCs with Sendai virus, which shows consistent outcome and enhanced efficiency.

A few years ago, the establishment of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) ushered in a new era in biomedicine. Potential uses of human iPSCs ...

High Efficiency Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells to Cardiomyocytes and Characterization by Flow Cytometry

There is an urgent need to develop approaches for repairing the damaged heart, discovering new therapeutic drugs that do not have toxic effects on the heart, and improving strategies to accurately model heart disease. The potential of exploiting human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology to generate cardiac muscle &#8220;in a dish&#8221; for these applications continues to generate high enthusiasm. In recent years, the ability to efficiently generate cardiomyogenic cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has greatly improved, offering us new opportunities to model very early stages of human cardiac development not otherwise accessible. In contrast to many previous methods, the cardiomyocyte differentiation protocol described here does not require cell aggregation or the addition of Activin A or BMP4 and robustly generates cultures of cells that are highly positive for cardiac troponin I and T (TNNI3, TNNT2), iroquois-class homeodomain protein IRX-4 (IRX4), myosin regulatory light chain 2, ventricular/cardiac muscle isoform (MLC2v) and myosin regulatory light chain 2, atrial isoform (MLC2a) by day 10 across all human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and hiPSC lines tested to date. Cells can be passaged and maintained for more than 90 days in culture. The strategy is technically simple to implement and cost-effective. Characterization of cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent cells often includes the analysis of reference markers, both at the mRNA and protein level. For protein analysis, flow cytometry is a powerful analytical tool for assessing quality of cells in culture and determining subpopulation homogeneity. However, technical variation in sample preparation can significantly affect quality of flow cytometry data. Thus, standardization of staining protocols should facilitate comparisons among various differentiation strategies. Accordingly, optimized staining protocols for the analysis of IRX4, MLC2v, MLC2a, TNNI3, and TNNT2 by flow cytometry are described.

The article describes the detailed methodology to efficiently differentiate human pluripotent stem cells into cardiomyocytes by selectively modulating the Wnt pathway, followed by flow cytometry analysis of reference markers to assess homogeneity and identity of the population.

There is an urgent need to develop approaches for repairing the damaged heart, discovering new therapeutic drugs that do not have toxic effects on the ...