The study was supported by the Ministry of Health and Department of Educational Assistance, University and Research of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and the South Tyrolean Sparkasse Foundation.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) were isolated from human peripheral blood samples of healthy donors after signed informed consent and approval of the Ethical Committee of the Province of South Tyrol. Experiments were conducted in accordance with the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. All data were collected and analyzed anonymously.
1. Isolation of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMNCs)
<ol>
	<li>PBMNCs obtained from buffy coats after whole blood centrifugation, without density gradient separation.
	<ol>
		<li>Collect 8 mL of venous peripheral blood into a sodium citrate buffered plastic tube, and store at RT&#160;(25 &#176;C). Process blood within 12 hr after collection.</li>
		<li>Centrifuge the tube at 2,000 x g for 15 min at 4 &#176;C in a swinging bucket rotor, switching-off the centrifuge brakes.</li>
		<li>Collect the cloudy buffy coat (the layer between the upper plasma phase and the lower phase containing most of the erythrocytes), containing the enriched PBMNC fraction (500 &#181;l) into a cryovial tube.</li>
		<li>Resuspend 500 &#181;l of buffy coat with 500 &#181;l of 2x freezing medium containing 90% FBS and 20% DMSO, in order to obtain a total volume of 1 ml with 10% DMSO concentration.</li>
		<li>Freeze the vial in a controlled-rate freezing container at -80 &#176;C. Store cells in liquid nitrogen for longer periods.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>PBMNCs obtained after density gradient separation
	<ol>
		<li>Collect 12 ml of venous peripheral blood into a sodium citrate buffered plastic tube, and store at RT. Process blood within 12 hr after collection.</li>
		<li>Dilute the blood with sterile PBS to a final volume of 35 ml.</li>
		<li>Carefully and slowly, layer 35 ml&#160;of diluted blood on 15 ml of polysucrose solution (used for density gradient separation) (p = 1.077) in a 50 ml conical tube (ratio 3:1).</li>
		<li>Centrifuge the tube at 800 x g for 30 min at RT in a swinging bucket rotor, switching-off the centrifuge brakes.</li>
		<li>Aspirate the upper, yellow phase containing plasma and discard it. Carefully, transfer the opaque white interphase layer containing PBMNCs to a new 50 ml conical tube.</li>
		<li>Bring total volume to 30 ml with sterile PBS and centrifuge at 300 x g for 10 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Discard the supernatant and resuspend the cells with 30 ml&#160;of PBS. Count the number of viable cells, based on trypan blue exclusion25.</li>
		<li>Centrifuge PBMNCs at 300 x g for 10 min at RT, aspirate the supernatant and discard it.</li>
		<li>Resuspend the cell pellet in an appropriate amount of freezing medium containing 90% FBS and 10% DMSO, in order to obtain a concentration of 5 x 106 cells/ml.</li>
		<li>Aliquot 1 ml&#160;per vial (about 5 x 106 cells/ml) and freeze the vial in a controlled-rate freezing container at &#8211; 80 &#176;C. Store cells in liquid nitrogen for longer periods.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
2. Thawing and Plating of PBMNCs (DAY 0)
<ol>
	<li>PBMNCs obtained from buffy coats after whole blood centrifugation, without density gradient separation.
	<ol>
		<li>To start the protocol using PBMNCs from frozen buffy coats, thaw 1 vial of cells in a water bath at 37 &#176;C and dilute the buffy coat with sterile PBS to a final volume of 2 ml.</li>
		<li>Transfer the diluted buffy coat into a 50 ml conical tube, add 10 ml&#160;of red cell lysis buffer and incubate for 10 min at RT.</li>
		<li>To prepare 500 ml of red cell lysis buffer, add 0.5 g of potassium bicarbonate, 4.145 g of ammonium chloride, 100 &#181;l of 0.5 M EDTA solution to 500 ml of ultrapure water, pH 7.2-7.4.</li>
		<li>Bring total volume to 50 ml with sterile PBS and centrifuge at 300 x g for 10 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Discard the supernatant and wash the pellet with 50 ml of sterile PBS, centrifuge the buffy coat at 300 x g for 10 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Resuspend the cells in 1 ml of PBMNC medium, as previously described22, composed of: IMDM and Ham&#8217;s F-12 (ratio 1:1), 1% of Insulin-Transferrin-Selenium-Ethanolamine (ITS-X), 1% of Chemically Defined Lipid Concentrate (CDL), 1% Penicillin/Streptomycin, 0.005% of L-ascorbic acid, 0.5% of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), 1-Thioglycerol (final concentration 200 &#181;M), Stem Cell Factor SCF (100 ng/ml), Interleukin-3 IL-3 (10 ng/ml), Erythropoietin EPO (2 U/ml), Insulin-like Growth Factor IGF-1 (40 ng/ml), Dexamethasone (1 &#181;M) and holo-transferrin (100 &#181;g/ml).</li>
		<li>Transfer them into one well of a 12-well plate with standard tissue culture treated surface, without coating, at a density of 2 x 106 cells/ml. Incubate the cells at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 in a humidified incubator for 48 hr, until the changing medium step (see Section 3).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>PBMNCs obtained after density gradient separation
	<ol>
		<li>To start the protocol using frozen PBMNCs after density gradient separation, thaw 1 vial of cells in a water bath at 37 &#176;C, transfer the cells into 5 ml of PBMNC medium. Centrifuge at 300 x g for 10 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Resuspend the cells in 1 ml of PBMNC medium and transfer them into one well of a 12-well plate, at a density of 2 x 106 cells/ml. Incubate the cells at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 in a humidified incubator for 48 hr, until the changing medium step (see Section 3).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
3. Culture and Expansion of PBMNCs (DAY 2-13)
<ol>
	<li>Collect PBMNCs in suspension culture, using a pipette with a 1 ml tip, in a 15 ml conical tube and centrifuge at 300 x g for 10 min at RT.</li>
	<li>Discard the supernatant and resuspend the cells in 1 ml of fresh PBMNC medium.</li>
	<li>Transfer the cells into 1 well of 12-well plate with standard tissue culture treated surface, without coating, and incubate them at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 in a humidified incubator.</li>
	<li>Repeat these steps every two days, and split the cells at a ratio 1:2 when they reach the appropriate confluence (around 80%).</li>
</ol>
4. Transfection of PBMNCs with Episomal Plasmids (DAY 14)
Note: Perform the isolation of the four commercial intergation-free episomal plasmids, carrying the pluripotency genes using a commercial kit for plasmid purification and assess the quality of the purified plasmids using an agarose gel analysis, according to the manufacturer&#8217;s instructions.
<ol>
	<li>Collect PBMNCs in 15 ml conical tube and count the number of viable cells (on the basis of trypan blue exclusion)25.</li>
	<li>Centrifuge 2 x 106 cells at 300 x g for 10 min at RT.</li>
	<li>Resuspend 2 x 106 cells in transfection mix containing 100 &#181;l of Resuspension Buffer T and 1 &#181;g of each plasmid DNA (one plasmid carrying OCT3/4 and shRNA against p53, one plasmid carrying SOX2 and KLF4, one plasmid carrying L-MYC and LIN28, and one plasmid carrying EGFP, to check the transfection efficiency).</li>
	<li>Aspirate the transfection mix containing the cells into a 100 &#181;l tip and insert the pipette with the sample vertically into the tube, filled with 3 ml of Electrolytic Buffer E2, placed in the pipette station of electroporation machine, according to manufacturer&#8217;s instructions.</li>
	<li>Efficiently electroporate cells using the following program: 1,650 V, 10 msec, 3 pulses.</li>
	<li>Resuspend the electroporated cells (2 x 106 cells) into 2 ml of pre-warmed PBMNC medium, adding 0.25 mM Sodium Butyrate (NaB) and count the number of viable cells after electroporation protocol (on the basis of trypan blue exclusion)25.</li>
	<li>Transfer the cells into one well of a 6-well plate without coating, gently rock the plate and incubate the cells at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 in a humidified incubator.</li>
	<li>The day after electroporation, count the number of GFP-positive cells under fluorescence microscopy from 8-10 random fields, in order to assess the transfection efficiency.</li>
	<li>Maintain the transfected cells without splitting for 3 days, until plating them on MEFs (see Section 6).</li>
	<li>Replace 2 ml of fresh PBMNCs medium, plus 0.25 mM NaB every two days.</li>
</ol>
5. Prepare Dishes with Feeder-cells for the Co-culture (DAY 16)
<ol>
	<li>Coat the wells of a 6-well plate with 1 ml of basement membrane matrix for 15 min at 37 &#176;C and plate Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts (MEFs) at a density of 2 x 105 cells/well with 2 ml of 10% FBS contained DMEM (MEF medium) one day before passaging the electroporated PBMNCs onto MEF feeder-cells.</li>
</ol>
6. Plating Transfected PBMNCs onto MEFs (DAY 17-19)
<ol>
	<li>Collect PBMNCs in suspension culture, using a pipette with 1 ml tip, in 15 ml conical tube and centrifuge transfected PBMNCs at 300 x g for 10 min at RT.</li>
	<li>Discard the supernatant and resuspend the pellet in 2 ml of fresh PBMNC medium, plus 0.25 mM NaB.</li>
	<li>Plate the cells onto MEF-coated 6 well-plate and incubate the cells at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 in a humidified incubator.</li>
	<li>After two days, aspirate the medium and replace it with 2 ml of iPSC medium composed of knockout DMEM (KO-DMEM), 20% KO-Serum Replacement (KOSR), 1 mM NEAAs, 1% Penicillin/Streptomycin, 20 mM L-Glutamine, 0.1 mM &#946;-mercaptoethanol, 10 ng/ml FGF (basic bFGF) and 0.25 mM NaB.</li>
	<li>Replace 2 ml of fresh iPSC medium every day and check the cells daily. 
	Note: At about day 22-25, the first colonies of iPSCs should be visible.</li>
</ol>
7. Picking and Expansion of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) Clones (DAY 30-35)
Note: At about 30-35 days after transfection, iPSC colonies should be ready for the picking and replating. The reprogramming efficiency should be estimated as the percentage of number of iPSC colonies/total number of electroporated cells, as previously reported26.
<ol>
	<li>The day before passaging iPSC colonies, prepare the MEF feeder in a 12-well plate (1.25 x 105 cells/well).</li>
	<li>Aspirate the MEF medium and change with 1 mL of iPSC medium with 10 ng/ml bFGF and 10 &#181;M Y-27632. Manually dissect with a needle one colony at each time under the dissecting microscope in the picking-hood in order to obtain a grid, collect smaller clumps by pipetting and transfer them individually each into one well of 12-well plate coated with MEFs.</li>
	<li>Passage and expand each 12-well plate to a 6-well plate in a ratio 1:2, then each 6-well plate in a ratio 1:4 for further propagation. Dissect and expand iPSCs manually for the first 2-3 passages (as thoroughly described in step 7.2), then use an enzyme dissociation procedure (start from step 7.4).</li>
	<li>For an enzyme dissociation protocol, clean iPSC colonies by aspirating differentiated portions, under the dissecting microscope in the picking-hood.</li>
	<li>Incubate iPSCs with 1 ml of collagenase IV (1 mg/ml) for 10 min at 37 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>Aspirate the enzyme solution, rinse the cells with 1 ml of KO-DMEM and collect the colonies in a 15 ml conical tube. Centrifuge at 100 x g for 2 min at RT.</li>
	<li>Aspirate the supernatant, resuspend the colonies in 2 ml of iPSC medium with 10 ng/ml bFGF and 10 &#181;M Y-27632 and plate them on MEF-coated 6-well plate (ratio 1:4).</li>
</ol>
8. Characterization of iPSCs (Between 5-15 Passages)
<ol>
	<li>Alkaline Phosphatase Staining
	<ol>
		<li>Culture the iPSC colonies for 3-5 days in iPSC medium with 10 ng/ml bFGF.</li>
		<li>For starting an alkaline phosphatase staining protocol, rinse iPSCs once with PBS and then fix them with 1 ml of 4% PFA for 20 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Wash the cells three times with PBS, to remove residual PFA.</li>
		<li>Stain fixed cells using a commercial alkaline phosphatase staining kit according to the manufacturer&#8217;s instructions.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Immunofluorescence
	<ol>
		<li>Culture the iPSC colonies for 3-5 days in iPSC medium with 10 ng/ml bFGF.</li>
		<li>To start an immunofluorescence assay, wash iPSCs once with PBS and then fix them with 1 ml of 4% PFA for 20 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Wash the cells three times with PBS, to remove residual PFA.</li>
		<li>Treat fixed iPSCs with 1 ml of permeabilization/blocking solution containing 4% goat serum, 0.1% BSA, 0.1% Triton X-100 and 0.05% sodium azide (NaN3) for 1 hr at RT.</li>
		<li>Aspirate the blocking solution and incubate the fixed cells with primary antibodies in 3% BSA and 0.05% NaN3 solution O/N at 4 &#176;C (check the material table for primary antibody list and suggested antibody dilution factor).</li>
		<li>The next day, wash iPSCs three times with PBS, then incubate the cells with Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-mouse and Alexa Fluor 555 goat anti-rabbit antibodies, diluted 1:1,000 in 3% BSA and 0.05% NaN3 solution, for 1 hr at 37 &#176;C.</li>
		<li>Stain the nuclei with DAPI (1&#181;g/ml) for 10 min at RT in dark, followed by three time washing with PBS.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Differentiation of iPSCs in Embryoid Bodies (EBs)
	<ol>
		<li>Culture the iPSC colonies for 5-6 days in iPSC medium with 10 ng/ml bFGF.</li>
		<li>Remove differentiated portions from iPSC colonies by aspirating, under the dissecting microscope in the picking-hood.</li>
		<li>Incubate iPSCs with 1 ml of collagenase IV (1 mg/ml) for 10 min at 37 &#176;C.</li>
		<li>Aspirate the enzyme solution, rinse the cells with 1 ml of KO-DMEM and collect the colonies in a 15 ml conical tube. Centrifuge at 100 x g for 2 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Aspirate the supernatant and resuspend the colonies in 2 ml of EB medium composed of KO-DMEM, 20% defined fetal bovine serum (FBS), 1 mM NEAAs, 1% Penicillin/Streptomycin, 20 mM L-Glutamine, 0.1 mM &#946;-mercaptoethanol.</li>
		<li>Plate iPSC colonies in suspension for 6 days onto ultra-low attachment 6-well plates, in order to allow the formation of spheroidal three-dimensional embryoid bodies (EBs). Change 2 ml of fresh EB medium every two days.</li>
		<li>On day 7, collect EBs and plate them onto 0.1% gelatin coated 6-well plates in 2 ml of EB medium and maintain EBs in differentiation for 20 days.</li>
		<li>Change 2 ml of fresh EB medium every two days.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>qRT-PCR for Gene Expression Analysis
	<ol>
		<li>Culture the iPSC colonies for 5-6 days in iPSC medium with 10 ng/ml bFGF.</li>
		<li>Extract total RNA from PBMNCs, iPSCs or EBs using 1 ml of commercial reagent in accordance with manufacturer&#8217;s instructions.</li>
		<li>Evaluate RNA concentration and purity by suitable methods such as use of a spectrophotometer (high quality RNA with A260/A280 and A260/A230 ratios &#62; 1.8)27.</li>
		<li>Check RNA integrity using a commercial kit according to manufacturer&#8217;s protocol (high quality RNA RQI &#62;9.5)28.</li>
		<li>Perform a reverse transcription reaction on 1 &#181;g of total RNA using a commercial reverse transcriptase kit according to manufacturer&#8217;s instructions.</li>
		<li>Prepare the qPCR mixtures containing 5 ng of cDNA template, 7.5 &#181;l SYBR GREEN Supermix, 2 &#181;l of 5 &#181;M primers (forward: 1 &#181;l and reverse: 1 &#181;l) and 6 &#181;l of RNase/DNase-free water for each reaction29.</li>
		<li>Perform the qRT-PCR using the following program: an initial denaturation step at 95 &#176;C for 10 min, followed by 40 cycles divided into a denaturation step at 95 &#176;C for 15 sec and primer annealing and extension step at 60&#176;C for 45 sec29.</li>
		<li>Normalize the expression of other genes using GAPDH as housekeeping gene28 (see the primers listed in Table 1).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>qPCR for Transgene Exclusion
	<ol>
		<li>Extract DNA from PBMNCs or iPSCs using 1 ml of lysis buffer containing 50 mM Tris, 100 mM EDTA, 100 mM NaCl, 1% Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS) and 20 &#181;g/ml Proteinase K.</li>
		<li>Add an equal volume (1 ml) of 100% isopropanol, mix by inversion three times in order to allow DNA precipitation and centrifuge at 10,000 x g for 5 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Discard the supernatant, wash the DNA pellet with 1 ml of 70% ethanol and centrifuge at 10,000 x g for 5 min at RT. Aspirate and discard the supernatant and resuspend it in RNase/DNase-free water.</li>
		<li>Evaluate DNA concentration and purity by suitable methods such as use of a spectrophotometer (high quality RNA with A260/A280 and A260/A230 ratios &#62;1.8)27.</li>
		<li>Prepare the qPCR mixtures containing 5 ng of DNA template, 7.5 &#181;l SYBR GREEN Supermix, 2 &#181;l of 5 &#181;M primers (forward: 1 &#181;l and reverse: 1 &#181;l) and 6 &#181;l of RNase/DNase-free water for each reaction29.</li>
		<li>Normalize the expression of specific episomal plasmid EBNA-1 gene using FBX-15 as housekeeping gene29(see the primers listed in Table 1).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Karyotype Analysis
	<ol>
		<li>Culture the iPSC colonies for 5-6 days onto feeder-free basement membrane matrix coated plate with a commercial defined, feeder-free maintenance medium for iPSCs, following manufacturer&#8217;s instructions.</li>
		<li>To start the karyotype analysis protocol, detach iPSC colonies with 1 ml of cell detachment solution for 5 min at 37 &#176;C, until obtaining single-cell dissociation.</li>
		<li>Collect cells and centrifuge at 400 x g for 5 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Resuspend iPSCs in 2 ml of a medium specifically developed for culturing cells for prenatal diagnostic techniques. Plate single-cell iPSCs onto basement membrane matrix coated glass dishes and incubate them in a 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 incubator.</li>
		<li>After 2-4 days, add 10 &#181;l/ml colchicine directly to the cultures and incubate for 3 hr at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 in a humidified incubator.</li>
		<li>Aspirate the medium and incubate iPSCs in 1 ml of a hypotonic solution (0.6% sodium citrate and 0.13% potassium chloride) for 10 min at RT.</li>
		<li>Rinse cells with 1 ml of 5% acetic acid solution and fix iPSCs with methanol/acetic acid solution (ratio 3:1) in a machine with controlled temperature and humidity (28 &#176;C, 42% rH).</li>
		<li>Immerse and stain fixed cells with Quinacrine solution for 15-20 min at RT in dark (to obtain Q-banding)30.</li>
		<li>Acquire cell metaphases under a fluorescence microscope at 100X magnification29.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

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C., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Feeder-free+derivation+of+induced+pluripotent+stem+cells+from+human+immature+dental+pulp+stem+cells.">Feeder-free derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells from human immature dental pulp stem cells.</a> Cell Transplant. 20 (11-12), 1707-1719 (2011).</li><li>Haase, A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Generation+of+induced+pluripotent+stem+cells+from+human+cord+blood.">Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from human cord blood.</a> Cell. Stem Cell. 5 (4), 434-441 (2009).</li><li>Dowey, S. N., Huang, X., Chou, B. K., Ye, Z., Cheng, L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Generation+of+integration-free+human+induced+pluripotent+stem+cells+from+postnatal+blood+mononuclear+cells+by+plasmid+vector+expression.">Generation of integration-free human induced pluripotent stem cells from postnatal blood mononuclear cells by plasmid vector expression.</a> Nat. Protoc. 7 (11), 2013-2021 (2012).</li><li>Staerk, J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Reprogramming+of+human+peripheral+blood+cells+to+induced+pluripotent+stem+cells.">Reprogramming of human peripheral blood cells to induced pluripotent stem cells.</a> Cell. Stem Cell. 7 (1), 20-24 (2010).</li><li>Geti, I., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+practical+and+efficient+cellular+substrate+for+the+generation+of+induced+pluripotent+stem+cells+from+adults:+blood-derived+endothelial+progenitor+cells.">A practical and efficient cellular substrate for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from adults: blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells.</a> Stem Cells Transl. Med. 1 (12), 855-865 (2012).</li><li>Strober, W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Trypan+blue+exclusion+test+of+cell+viability.">Trypan blue exclusion test of cell viability.</a> Curr Protoc Immunol. , Appendix 3-Appendix 3B (2001).</li><li>Hasegawa, K., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Comparison+of+reprogramming+efficiency+between+transduction+of+reprogramming+factors,+cell-cell+fusion,+and+cytoplast+fusion.">Comparison of reprogramming efficiency between transduction of reprogramming factors, cell-cell fusion, and cytoplast fusion.</a> Stem Cells. 28 (8), 1338-1348 (2010).</li><li>Desjardins, P., Conklin, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=NanoDrop+microvolume+quantitation+of+nucleic+acids.">NanoDrop microvolume quantitation of nucleic acids.</a> J Vis Exp. (45), 2565 (2010).</li><li>Fleige, S., Pfaffl, M. W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=RNA+integrity+and+the+effect+on+the+real-time+qRT-PCR+performance.">RNA integrity and the effect on the real-time qRT-PCR performance.</a> Mol Aspects Med. 27 (2-3), 126-129 (2006).</li><li>Meraviglia, V., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Human+chorionic+villus+mesenchymal+stromal+cells+reveal+strong+endothelial+conversion+properties.">Human chorionic villus mesenchymal stromal cells reveal strong endothelial conversion properties.</a> Differentiation. 83 (5), 260-270 (2012).</li><li>Caspersson, T., Zech, L., Johansson, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Analysis+of+human+metaphase+chromosome+set+by+aid+of+DNA-binding+fluorescent+agents.">Analysis of human metaphase chromosome set by aid of DNA-binding fluorescent agents.</a> Exp Cell Res. 253 (2), 302-304 (1999).</li><li>Alikani, M., Munne, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Nonviable+human+pre-implantation+embryos+as+a+source+of+stem+cells+for+research+and+potential+therapy.">Nonviable human pre-implantation embryos as a source of stem cells for research and potential therapy.</a> Stem Cell. Rev. 1 (4), 337-343 (2005).</li><li>Tropel, P., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=High-efficiency+derivation+of+human+embryonic+stem+cell+lines+following+pre-implantation+genetic+diagnosis.">High-efficiency derivation of human embryonic stem cell lines following pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.</a> In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. Anim. 46 (3-4), 376-385 (2010).</li><li>Hanna, J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Direct+cell+reprogramming+is+a+stochastic+process+amenable+to+acceleration.">Direct cell reprogramming is a stochastic process amenable to acceleration.</a> Nature. 462 (72-73), 595-601 (2009).</li><li>Li, H., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+Ink4/Arf+locus+is+a+barrier+for+iPS+cell+reprogramming.">The Ink4/Arf locus is a barrier for iPS cell reprogramming.</a> Nature. 460 (7259), 1136-1139 (2009).</li><li>Kim, K., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Epigenetic+memory+in+induced+pluripotent+stem+cells.">Epigenetic memory in induced pluripotent stem cells.</a> Nature. 467 (7313), 285-290 (2010).</li><li>Lindner, S. E., Sugden, B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+plasmid+replicon+of+Epstein-Barr+virus:+mechanistic+insights+into+efficient,+licensed,+extrachromosomal+replication+in+human+cells.">The plasmid replicon of Epstein-Barr virus: mechanistic insights into efficient, licensed, extrachromosomal replication in human cells.</a> Plasmid. 58 (1), 1-12 (2007).</li></ol>

The authors have nothing to disclose.

In the past, the only way to obtain human pluripotent stem cells carrying a particular genetic mutation was to recruit parents undergoing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and generate embryonic stem cells from their discarded blastocysts31,32. Using a reprogramming approach, researchers can now generate iPSCs from patients carrying virtually any genotype. The possibility to start from a patient-specific cell line and an easily accessible source is very important since it allows an investigation of the pathop...

In 2006, the group of Shinya Yamanaka1 demonstrated for the first time that somatic cells from adult mice and humans can be converted into a pluripotent state by ectopic expression of four reprogramming factors (Oct-4, Sox-2, Klf-4, and c-Myc), generating the so-called Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs)2. Patient-specific iPSCs closely resemble human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in terms of morphology, proliferation and ability to differentiate into the three-germ cell types (mesoderm, endoderm and ectoderm) while lacking the ethical concerns associated to the use of hESCs and bypassing possible immune rejection3. Thus, iPSCs appear as one of the most important sources of patient-specific cells for basic research, drug screening, disease modeling, evaluation of toxicity, and regenerative medicine purposes4.
Several approaches have been used for iPSC generation: viral integrating vectors (retrovirus5, lentivirus6), viral non-integrating vectors (adenovirus7), Sendai-virus8, BAC transposons9, episomal vectors10, proteins11 or RNA delivery12. Although the use of virus-mediated methods can lead to high efficiency reprogramming, viral vectors integrate into the genome of host cells and therefore potential random insertional mutagenesis, permanent alteration of gene expression, and reactivation of silenced transgenes during differentiation cannot be excluded13.
To make iPSCs safer for regenerative medicine, efforts have been made to derive iPSCs without the integration of exogenous DNA into cellular genomes. Although excisable viral vectors and transposons have been developed, it is still unclear whether short vector sequences, which inevitably remain in the transduced cells after excision, and transposase expression, could induce alteration in cellular function13. Despite its high reprogramming efficiency, Sendai virus represents an expensive approach and reach-through licensing concerns with the company that developed this system have the potential to limit its application in translational studies. Furthermore, the need for direct introduction of proteins and RNA requires multiple delivery of reprogramming molecules with the inherent technical limitations this introduces, and overall reprogramming efficiency is very low14. Of note, cost-effective viral-free and non-integrating methods based on the use of episomal plasmids have been successfully reported for the reprogramming of skin fibroblasts15. Specifically, in the present work we decided to use commercial available integration-free episomal plasmids, as previously reported10,15.
To date, skin fibroblasts represent the most popular donor cell type5. However, other cell sources have been successfully reprogrammed into iPSCs including keratinocytes16, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells17, adipose stromal cells18, hair follicles19, and dental pulp cells20. The isolation of these cells requires surgical procedures, and several weeks are needed for in vitro cell expansion in order to establish a primary cell culture.
In this light, the selection of starting cell type is critical and it is equally important to be able to produce iPSCs from easily accessible and less invasive tissues such as blood. Both cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMNCs)21,22 and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs)14,22-24 represent suitable sources of cells for the derivation of iPSCs.
Although the efficiency of adult PBMNC reprogramming is 20&#8211;50 times lower than that of CBMNCs22, they remain the most convenient cell type for sampling purpose. In fact, PBMNC sampling has the advantage of being minimally invasive, and in addition, these cells do not require extensive expansion in vitro before reprogramming experiments. To date, different protocols have reported that PBMNCs after density gradient separation can be frozen and thawed days to several months after freezing and expanded for few days before reprogramming into iPSCs22,23. Nevertheless, as far as we are aware no reports have described reprogramming of PBMNCs from frozen buffy coats. Importantly, frozen buffy coats collected without density gradient separation represent the most common blood samples stored in large scale biobanks from population studies, thus representing an easily accessible pool of material for iPSC production that avoids further sample collection.
Herein we report for the first time the generation of viral-free iPSCs from human frozen buffy coats, based on a previously described protocol22. In addition, iPSCs were generated from frozen PBMNCs obtained after density gradient separation, as a control protocol for the non-density gradient purified PBMNC results.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium Citrate buffered Venosafe Plastic Tube</td>
			<td>Terumo</td>
			<td>VF-054SBCS07</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ammodium chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A9434</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium bicarbonate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>60339</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EDTA disodium powder</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>E5134</td>
			<td>0.5 M solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ficoll-Paque Premium&#160;</td>
			<td>GE Healthcare Life Sciences</td>
			<td>17-5442-02</td>
			<td>Polysucrose solution for density gradient centrifugation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Iscove&#39;s modified Dulbecco&#39;s medium (IMDM)&#160;</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>21056-023</td>
			<td>No phenol red</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ham&#39;s F-12</td>
			<td>Mediatech</td>
			<td>10-080-CV</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Insulin-Transferrin-Selenium-Ethanolamine (ITS -X)</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>51500-056&#160;</td>
			<td>1X (Stock: 100X)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Chemically Defined Lipid Concentrate</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>11905031</td>
			<td>1X (Stock: 100X)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A9418</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-Ascorbic acid 2-phosphate sesquimagnesium salt hydrate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A8960</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1-Thioglycerol</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M6145</td>
			<td>Final Concentration at 200 &#181;M</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Recombinant Human Stem Cell Factor (SCF)</td>
			<td>PeproTech</td>
			<td>300-07</td>
			<td>100 ng/ml (Stock:100 &#181;g/ml)&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Recombinant Human Interleukin-3 (IL-3)</td>
			<td>PeproTech</td>
			<td>200-03</td>
			<td>10 ng/ml (Stock: 10 &#181;g/ml)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Recombinant Human Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1)</td>
			<td>PeproTech</td>
			<td>100-11</td>
			<td>40 ng/ml (Stock: 40 &#181;g/ml)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Recombinant Human Erythropoietin (EPO)</td>
			<td>R&#38;D Systems&#160;</td>
			<td>287-TC-500</td>
			<td>2 U/ml (Stock: 50 U/ml)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dexamethasone&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>D2915</td>
			<td>1 &#956;M (Stock: 1 mM)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Human Holo-Transferrin</td>
			<td>R&#38;D Systems&#160;</td>
			<td>2914-HT</td>
			<td>100 &#956;g/ml (Stock: 20 mg/ml)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Amniomax II</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>11269016</td>
			<td>Medium for cytogenetic analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mTeSR1</td>
			<td>StemCell Technologies</td>
			<td>5850</td>
			<td>Medium for iPSC feeder-free culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Knockout DMEM</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>10829-018</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Knockout Serum Replacement</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>10828-028</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin-Streptomycin (10,000 U/mL)</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15140-122</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-Glutamine (200 mM)</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>25030-024</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MEM Non-Essential Amino Acids Solution (100X)</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>11140-050</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2-Mercaptoethanol&#160;</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>31350-010</td>
			<td>0.1 mM (Stock: 50 mM)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium Butyrate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>B5887</td>
			<td>0.25 mM (Stock: 0.5 M)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Recombinant Human FGF basic, 145 aa&#160;</td>
			<td>R&#38;D Systems&#160;</td>
			<td>4114-TC</td>
			<td>10 ng/ml (Stock: 10 &#181;g/ml)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Y-27632 dihydrochloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Y0503&#160;</td>
			<td>10 &#181;M (Stock: 10 mM)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal Defined Bovine Serum</td>
			<td>Hyclone</td>
			<td>SH 30070.03</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EmbryoMax 0.1% Gelatin Solution</td>
			<td>Merck-Millipore</td>
			<td>ES-006-B</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Matrigel Basement Membrane Matrix Growth Factor Reduced</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>354230</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Collagenase, Type IV</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>17104-019</td>
			<td>1 mg/ml (Stock: 10 mg/ml)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Accutase</td>
			<td>PAA Laboratories GmbH</td>
			<td>L11-007</td>
			<td>Cell detachment solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mouse Embryonic Fibroblast (CF1)</td>
			<td>Global Stem</td>
			<td>GSC-6201G</td>
			<td>1*106 cells/6 well plate</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmid pCXLE-hOCT3/4-shp53-F</td>
			<td>Addgene&#160;</td>
			<td>27077</td>
			<td>1 &#181;g (Stock: 1 &#181;g/&#181;l)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmid pCXLE-hSK</td>
			<td>Addgene&#160;</td>
			<td>27078</td>
			<td>1 &#181;g (Stock: 1 &#181;g/&#181;l)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmid pCXLE-hUL</td>
			<td>Addgene&#160;</td>
			<td>27080</td>
			<td>1 &#181;g (Stock: 1 &#181;g/&#181;l)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmid pCXLE-EGFP</td>
			<td>Addgene&#160;</td>
			<td>27082</td>
			<td>1 &#181;g (Stock: 1 &#181;g/&#181;l)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Alkaline Phosphatase Staining Kit</td>
			<td>Stemgent</td>
			<td>00-0009</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Stage-Specific Embryonic Antigen-4 (SSEA-4) Antibody</td>
			<td>Merck-Millipore</td>
			<td>MAB4304</td>
			<td>1/250</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-TRA-1-60 Antibody</td>
			<td>Merck-Millipore</td>
			<td>MAB4360</td>
			<td>1/250</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-TRA-1-81 Antibody</td>
			<td>Merck-Millipore</td>
			<td>MAB4381</td>
			<td>1/250</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Oct-3/4 Antibody</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz Biotechnology</td>
			<td>sc-9081</td>
			<td>1/500</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Nanog Antibody</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz Biotechnology</td>
			<td>sc-33759</td>
			<td>1/500</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Troponin I Antibody</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz Biotechnology</td>
			<td>sc-15368</td>
			<td>1/500</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-&#945;-Actinin (Sarcomeric) Antibody</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A7732</td>
			<td>1/250</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Neuronal Class III &#223;-Tubulin (TUJ1) Antibody</td>
			<td>Covance Research Products Inc&#160;</td>
			<td>MMS-435P-100</td>
			<td>1/500</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH) Antibody</td>
			<td>Calbiochem</td>
			<td>657012</td>
			<td>1/200</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluor 488 Goat Anti-Mouse&#160;</td>
			<td>Molecular Probes</td>
			<td>A-11029</td>
			<td>1/1000</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluor 555 Goat Anti-Rabbit</td>
			<td>Molecular Probes</td>
			<td>A-21429</td>
			<td>1/1000</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultra-Low Attachment Cell Culture 6-well plate</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>3471</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trizol Reagent</td>
			<td>Ambion</td>
			<td>15596-018&#160;</td>
			<td>reagent for RNA extraction</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SuperScript VILO cDNA Synthesis Kit</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>11754050</td>
			<td>Reverse transcriptase kit</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>iTaq Universal SYBR Green Supermix</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad</td>
			<td>172-5124</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CFX96 Real-Time PCR Detection System</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad</td>
			<td>185-5195</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Experion Automated Electrophoresis System</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad</td>
			<td>700-7000</td>
			<td>Instrument to check RNA integrity</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Experion RNA Highsense Analysis kit</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad</td>
			<td>7007105</td>
			<td>Reagent kit to check RNA integrity</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dissecting microscope (SteREO Discovery V12 )</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td>495007</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NeonTransfection System 100 &#181;L Kit</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>MPK10025</td>
			<td>Reagent kit for electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Neon Transfection System</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>MPK5000</td>
			<td>Instrument used for electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NanoDrop UV/Vis Spectrophotometer</td>
			<td>Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td>ND-2000</td>
			<td>Instrument for DNA/RNA quantification</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EndoFree Plasmid Maxi Kit</td>
			<td>Qiagen</td>
			<td>12362</td>
			<td>Plasmid purification kit</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from frozen buffy coats using non-integrating episomal plasmids

Somatic cells can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by forcing the expression of four transcription factors (Oct-4, Sox-2, Klf-4, and c-Myc), typically expressed by human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Due to their similarity with hESCs, iPSCs have become an important tool for potential patient-specific regenerative medicine, avoiding ethical issues associated with hESCs. In order to obtain cells suitable for clinical application, transgene-free iPSCs need to be generated to avoid transgene reactivation, altered gene expression and misguided differentiation. Moreover, a highly efficient and inexpensive reprogramming method is necessary to derive sufficient iPSCs for therapeutic purposes. Given this need, an efficient non-integrating episomal plasmid approach is the preferable choice for iPSC derivation. Currently the most common cell type used for reprogramming purposes are fibroblasts, the isolation of which requires tissue biopsy, an invasive surgical procedure for the patient. Therefore, human peripheral blood represents the most accessible and least invasive tissue for iPSC generation.
In this study, a cost-effective and viral-free protocol using non-integrating episomal plasmids is reported for the generation of iPSCs from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) obtained from frozen buffy coats after whole blood centrifugation and without density gradient separation.

In this study a simple and effective protocol for the generation of viral-free iPSCs by reprogramming of PBMNCs isolated from frozen buffy coats after whole blood centrifugation and comparison with reprogramming of PBMNCs obtained after density gradient separation is reported. Figure 1A shows a schematic representation of the detailed protocol. After thawing, the isolated PBMNCs, showing a typical rounded shape, are expanded in specific blood culture medium for 14 days (Figure 1B) and th...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Frozen Buffy Coats using Non-integrating Episomal Plasmids at JoVE.com

Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Frozen Buffy Coats using Non-integrating Episomal Plasmids

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent a source of patient-specific tissues for clinical applications and basic research. Here, we present a detailed protocol to reprogram human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) obtained from frozen buffy coats into viral-free iPSCs using non-integrating episomal plasmids.

Somatic cells can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by forcing the expression of four transcription factors (Oct-4, Sox-2, ...

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JoVE Journal

Developmental Biology

12.9K Views.  European Academy Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC).  Cellule staminali pluripotenti indotte (iPSCs) rappresentano una fonte di tessuti paziente-specifici per le applicazioni cliniche e di ricerca di base. Qui vi presentiamo un protocollo dettagliato per riprogrammare le cellule umane mononucleari di sangue periferico (PBMNCs) ottenute da buffy coats congelati in iPSCs-virali gratuito utilizzando non integrano plasmidi episomiale. 

Video: Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Frozen Buffy Coats using Non-integrating Episomal Plasmids

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.

This manuscript provides a step-by-step procedure for the derivation and maintenance of human keratinocytes from plucked hair and subsequent generation of integration-free human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) by episomal vectors.

Recent advances in reprogramming allow us to turn somatic cells into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Disease modeling using ...

Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Peripheral T Cells Using Sendai Virus in Feeder-free Conditions

Recently, iPSCs have attracted attention as a new source of cells for regenerative therapies. Although the initial method for generating iPSCs relied on dermal fibroblasts obtained by invasive biopsy and retroviral genomic insertion of transgenes, there have been many efforts to avoid these disadvantages. Human peripheral T cells are a unique cell source for generating iPSCs. iPSCs derived from T cells contain rearrangements of the T cell receptor (TCR) genes and are a source of antigen-specific T cells. Additionally, T cell receptor rearrangement in the genome has the potential to label individual cell lines and distinguish between transplanted and donor cells. For safe clinical application of iPSCs, it is important to minimize the risk of exposing newly generated iPSCs to harmful agents. Although fetal bovine serum and feeder cells have been essential for pluripotent stem cell culture, it is preferable to remove them from the culture system to reduce the risk of unpredictable pathogenicity. To address this, we have established a protocol for generating iPSCs from human peripheral T cells using Sendai virus to reduce the risk of exposing iPSCs to undefined pathogens. Although handling Sendai virus requires equipment with the appropriate biosafety level, Sendai virus infects activated T cells without genome insertion, yet with high efficiency. In this protocol, we demonstrate the generation of iPSCs from human peripheral T cells in feeder-free conditions using a combination of activated T cell culture and Sendai virus.

This protocol describes how to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from human peripheral T cells in feeder-free conditions using a combination of matrigel and Sendai virus vectors containing reprogramming factors.

Recently, iPSCs have attracted attention as a new source of cells for regenerative therapies. Although the initial method for generating iPSCs relied on ...

Generation of Induced-pluripotent Stem Cells Using Fibroblast-like Synoviocytes Isolated from Joints of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Mature somatic cells can be reversed into a pluripotent stem cell-like state using a defined set of reprogramming factors. Numerous studies have generated induced-Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) from various somatic cell types by transducing four Yamanaka transcription factors: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. The study of iPSCs remains at the cutting edge of biological and clinical research. In particular, patient-specific iPSCs can be used as a pioneering tool for the study of disease pathobiology, since iPSCs can be induced from the tissue of any individual. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, classified by the destruction of cartilage and bone structure in the joint. Synovial hyperplasia is one of the major reasons or symptoms that lead to these results in RA. Fibroblast-like Synoviocytes (FLSs) are the main component cells in the hyperplastic synovium. FLSs in the joint limitlessly proliferate, eventually invading the adjacent cartilage and bone. Currently, the hyperplastic synovium can be removed only by a surgical procedure. The removed synovium is used for RA research as a material that reflects the inflammatory condition of the joint. As a major player in the pathogenesis of RA, FLSs can be used as a material to generate and investigate the iPSCs of RA patients. In this study, we used the FLSs of a RA patient to generate iPSCs. Using a lentiviral system, we discovered that FLSs can generate RA patient-specific iPSC. The iPSCs generated from FLSs can be further used as a tool to study the pathophysiology of RA in the future.

Here we describe a protocol for generating human induced-pluripotent stem cells from patient-derived fibroblast-like synoviocytes, using a lentiviral system without feeder cells.

Mature somatic cells can be reversed into a pluripotent stem cell-like state using a defined set of reprogramming factors. Numerous studies have generated ...

Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Melanoma Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes

Adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can mediate durable and complete responses in significant subsets of patients with metastatic melanoma. Major obstacles of this approach are the reduced viability of transferred T cells, caused by telomere shortening, and the limited number of TILs obtained from patients. Less-differentiated T cells with long telomeres would be an ideal T cell subset for adoptive T cell therapy;however, generating large numbers of these less-differentiated T cells is problematic. This limitation of adoptive T cell therapy can be theoretically overcome by using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that self-renew, maintain pluripotency, have elongated telomeres, and provide an unlimited source of autologous T cells for immunotherapy. Here, we present a protocol to generate iPSCs using Sendai virus vectors for the transduction of reprogramming factors into TILs. This protocol generates fully reprogrammed, vector-free clones. These TIL-derived iPSCs might be able to generate less-differentiated patient- and tumor-specific T cells for adoptive T cell therapy.

The goal of this protocol is to show the protocol for reprogramming melanoma tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes into induced pluripotent stem cells.

Adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can mediate durable and complete responses in significant subsets ...

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Generation from Blood Cells Using Sendai Virus and Centrifugation

The recent development of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) proved that mature somatic cells can return to an undifferentiated, pluripotent state. Now, reprogramming is done with various types of adult somatic cells: keratinocytes, urine cells, fibroblasts, etc. Early experiments were usually done with dermal fibroblasts. However, this required an invasive surgical procedure to obtain fibroblasts from the patients. Therefore, suspension cells, such as blood and urine cells, were considered ideal for reprogramming because of the convenience of obtaining the primary cells. Here, we report an efficient protocol for iPSC generation from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). By plating the transduced PBMCs serially to a new, matrix-coated plate using centrifugation, this protocol can easily provide iPSC colonies. This method is also applicable to umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs). This study presents a simple and efficient protocol for the reprogramming of PBMCs and CBMCs.

We propose a protocol for reprogramming peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). By plating the transduced blood cells onto matrix-coated plates with centrifugation, iPSCs are successfully induced from floating cells. This technique suggests a simple and effective reprogramming protocol for cells such as PBMCs and CBMCs.

The recent development of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) proved that mature somatic cells can return to an undifferentiated, pluripotent ...

Generation of Integration-free Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Using Episomal Vectors

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) hold great promise for disease modeling and regenerative therapies. We previously reported the use of Episomal Vectors (EV) to generate integration-free iPSCs from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PB MNCs). The episomal vectors used are DNA plasmids incorporated with oriP and EBNA1 elements from the Epstein-Barr (EB) virus, which&#160;allow for replication and long-term retainment of plasmids in mammalian cells, respectively. With further optimization, thousands of iPSC colonies can be obtained from 1 mL of peripheral blood. Two critical factors for achieving high reprogramming efficiencies&#160;are: 1) the use of a 2A &#34;self-cleavage&#34; peptide to link OCT4 and SOX2, thus achieving equimolar expression of the two factors; 2) the use of two vectors to express MYC and KLF4 individually. Here we describe a step-by-step protocol for generating integration-free iPSCs from adult peripheral blood samples. The generated iPSCs are integration-free as residual episomal plasmids are undetectable after five passages. Although the reprogramming efficiency is comparable to that of Sendai Virus (SV) vectors, EV plasmids are considerably more economical than the commercially available SV vectors. This affordable EV reprogramming system holds potential for clinical applications in regenerative medicine and provides an approach for the direct reprogramming of PB MNCs to integration-free mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells, etc.

This protocol describes a detailed method for efficient generation of integration-free iPSCs from human adult peripheral blood cells. With the use of four oriP/EBNA-based episomal vectors to express the reprogramming factors, KLF4, MYC, BCL-XL, or OCT4 and SOX2, thousands of iPSC colonies can be obtained from 1 mL of peripheral blood.

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) hold great promise for disease modeling and regenerative therapies. We previously reported the use of Episomal ...

Defined and Scalable Generation of Hepatocyte-like Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) possess great value for biomedical research. hPSCs can be scaled and differentiated to all cell types found in the human body. The differentiation of hPSCs to human hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) has been extensively studied, and efficient differentiation protocols have been established. The combination of extracellular matrix and biological stimuli, including growth factors, cytokines, and small molecules, have made it possible to generate HLCs that resemble primary human hepatocytes. However, the majority of procedures still employ undefined components, giving rise to batch-to-batch variation. This serves as a significant barrier to the application of the technology. To tackle this issue, we developed a defined system for hepatocyte differentiation using human recombinant laminins as extracellular matrices in combination with a serum-free differentiation process. Highly efficient hepatocyte specification was achieved, with demonstrated improvements in both HLC function and phenotype. Importantly, this system is easy to scale up using research and GMP-grade hPSC lines&#160;promising advances in cell-based modelling and therapies.

The method presented here describes a scalable and good manufacturing practice (GMP)-ready differentiation system to generate human hepatocyte-like cells from pluripotent stem cells. It serves as a cost-effective and standardized system to generate human hepatocyte-like cells for basic and applied human liver research.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) possess great value for biomedical research. hPSCs can be scaled and differentiated to all cell types found in the ...

Generation of Standardized and Reproducible Forebrain-type Cerebral Organoids from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

The human cortex is highly expanded and exhibits a complex structure with specific functional areas, providing higher brain function, such as cognition. Efforts to study human cerebral cortex development have been limited by the availability of model systems. Translating results from rodent studies to the human system is restricted by species differences and studies on human primary tissues are hampered by a lack of tissue availability as well as ethical concerns. Recent development in human pluripotent stem cell (PSC) technology include the generation of three-dimensional (3D) self-organizing organotypic culture systems, which mimic to a certain extent human-specific brain development in vitro. Currently, various protocols are available for the generation of either whole brain or brain-region specific organoids. The method for the generation of homogeneous and reproducible forebrain-type organoids from induced PSC (iPSC), which we previously established and describe here, combines the intrinsic ability of PSC to self-organize with guided differentiation towards the anterior neuroectodermal lineage and matrix embedding to support the formation of a continuous neuroepithelium. More specifically, this protocol involves: (1) the generation of iPSC aggregates, including the conversion of iPSC colonies to a confluent monolayer culture; (2) the induction of anterior neuroectoderm; (3) the embedding of neuroectodermal aggregates in a matrix scaffold; (4) the generation of forebrain-type organoids from neuroectodermal aggregates; and (5) the fixation and validation of forebrain-type organoids. As such, this protocol provides an easily applicable system for the generation of standardized and reproducible iPSC-derived cortical tissue structures in vitro.

Cerebral organoids represent a new model system to investigate early human brain development in vitro. This article provides the detailed methodology to efficiently generate homogeneous dorsal forebrain-type organoids from human induced pluripotent stem cells including critical characterization and validation steps.

The human cortex is highly expanded and exhibits a complex structure with specific functional areas, providing higher brain function, such as cognition. ...

Generation of 3D Skin Organoid from Cord Blood-derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

The skin is the body&#8217;s largest organ and has many functions. The skin acts as a physical barrier and protector of the body and regulates bodily functions. Biomimetics is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems1. Skin biomimetics is a useful tool for in vitro disease research and in vivo regenerative medicine. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have the characteristic of unlimited proliferation and the ability of differentiation to three germ layers. Human iPSCs are generated from various primary cells, such as blood cells, keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and more. Among them, cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs) have emerged as an alternative cell source from the perspective of allogeneic regenerative medicine. CBMCs are useful in regenerative medicine because human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing is essential to the cell banking system. We provide a method for the differentiation of CBMC-iPSCs into keratinocytes and fibroblasts and for generation of a 3D skin organoid. CBMC-iPSC-derived keratinocytes and fibroblasts have characteristics similar to a primary cell line. The 3D skin organoids are generated by overlaying an epidermal layer onto a dermal layer. By transplanting this 3D skin organoid, a humanized mice model is generated. This study shows that a 3D human iPSC-derived skin organoid may be a novel, alternative tool for dermatologic research in vitro and in vivo.

We propose a protocol that shows how to differentiate induced pluripotent stem cell-derived keratinocytes and fibroblasts and generate a 3D skin organoid, using these keratinocytes and fibroblasts. This protocol contains an additional step of generating a humanized mice model. The technique presented here will improve dermatologic research.

The skin is the body&#8217;s largest organ and has many functions. The skin acts as a physical barrier and protector of the body and regulates bodily ...

In Vitro Generation of Somite Derivatives from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

In response to signals such as WNTs, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), and sonic hedgehog (SHH) secreted from surrounding tissues, somites (SMs) give rise to multiple cell types, including the myotome (MYO), sclerotome (SCL), dermatome (D), and syndetome (SYN), which in turn develop into skeletal muscle, axial skeleton, dorsal dermis, and axial tendon/ligament, respectively. Therefore, the generation of SMs and their derivatives from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is critical to obtain pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) for application in regenerative medicine and for disease research in the field of orthopedic surgery. Although the induction protocols for MYO and SCL from PSCs have been previously reported by several researchers, no study has yet demonstrated the induction of SYN and D from iPSCs. Therefore, efficient induction of fully competent SMs remains a major challenge. Here, we recapitulate human SM patterning with human iPSCs in vitro by mimicking the signaling environment during chick/mouse SM development, and report on methods of systematic induction of SM derivatives (MYO, SCL, D, and SYN) from human iPSCs under chemically defined conditions through the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) and SM states. Knowledge regarding chick/mouse&#160;SM development was successfully applied to the induction of SMs with human iPSCs. This method could be a novel tool for studying human somitogenesis and patterning without the use of embryos and for cell-based therapy and disease modeling.

We present here a protocol for the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into each somite derivative (myotome, sclerotome, dermatome, and syndetome) in chemically defined conditions, which has applications in future disease modeling and cell-based therapies in orthopedic surgery.

In response to signals such as WNTs, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), and sonic hedgehog (SHH) secreted from surrounding tissues, somites (SMs) give ...