Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) results from the absence of the NBS1 protein, responsible for detection of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). NBS is characterized by microcephaly, growth retardation, immunodeficiency, and cancer predisposition. Here, we show successful reprogramming of NBS fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells (NBS-iPSCs). Our data suggest a strong selection for karyotypically normal fibroblasts to go through the reprogramming process. NBS-iPSCs then acquire numerous chromosomal aberrations and show a delayed response to DSB induction. Furthermore, NBS-iPSCs display slower growth, mitotic inhibition, a reduced apoptotic response to stress, and abnormal cell-cycle-related gene expression. Importantly, NBS neural progenitor cells (NBS-NPCs) show downregulation of neural developmental genes, which seems to be mediated by P53. Our results demonstrate the importance of NBS1 in early human development, shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying this severe syndrome, and further expand our knowledge of the genomic stress cells experience during the reprogramming process.

Gunn rats bear a mutation within the uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase-1a1 (Ugt1a1) gene resulting in high serum bilirubin levels as seen in Crigler-Najjar syndrome. In this study, the Gunn rat was used as an animal model for heritable liver dysfunction. Induced mesenchymal stem cells (iMSCs) derived from embryonic stem cells (H1) and induced pluripotent stem cells were transplanted into Gunn rats after partial hepatectomy. The iMSCs engrafted and survived in the liver for up to 2 months. The transplanted iMSCs differentiated into functional hepatocytes as evidenced by partially suppressed hyperbilirubinemia and expression of multiple human-specific hepatocyte markers such as albumin, hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α, UGT1A1, cytokeratin 18, bile salt export pump, multidrug resistance protein 2, Na/taurocholate-cotransporting polypeptide, and α-fetoprotein. These findings imply that transplanted human iMSCs can contribute to liver regeneration in vivo and thus represent a promising tool for the treatment of inherited liver diseases.

Vascular disorders are complex diseases with high morbidity and mortality. Among them, the dilated macrovascular diseases (MVD), such as aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection, have presented a huge threat to human health. The pathogenesis of vascular diseases is mostly associated with property alteration of vascular endothelial cells (VECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Studies have confirmed that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be proliferated and differentiated into other somatic cells, such as VECs and VSMCs. And patient-specific cells could provide detailed human-associated information in regard to pathogenesis or drug responses. In addition, differentiated ECs from iPSC have been widely used in disease modeling as a cell therapy. In this review, we mainly discussed the application of hiPSCs in investigating the pathological mechanism of different inherited vascular diseases and provide a comprehensive understanding of hiPSCs in the field of clinical diagnosis and gene therapy.

A 87-year old Alzheimer's Disease(AD) male patient donated his Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The non-integrating episomal vector system was used to reprogram PBMCs with the human OKSM transcription factors. The pluripotency of transgene-free iPSCs was confirmed by immunocytochemistry for pluripotency markers and by the ability of the iPSCs to differentiate spontaneously into 3 germ layers in vitro. In addition, the iPSC line displayed a normal karyotype. Our model might offer a good platform to further study the pathological mechanisms, to identify early biomarkers, and also for drug testing studies in AD.

Reprogramming human adult blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) cells by transient plasmid expression is becoming increasingly popular as an attractive method for generating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells without the genomic alteration caused by genome-inserting vectors. However, its efficiency is relatively low with adult MNCs compared with cord blood MNCs and other fetal cells and is highly variable among different adult individuals. We report highly efficient iPS cell derivation under clinically compliant conditions via three major improvements. First, we revised a combination of three EBNA1/OriP episomal vectors expressing five transgenes, which increased reprogramming efficiency by ≥10-50-fold from our previous vectors. Second, human recombinant vitronectin proteins were used as cell culture substrates, alleviating the need for feeder cells or animal-sourced proteins. Finally, we eliminated the previously critical step of manually picking individual iPS cell clones by pooling newly emerged iPS cell colonies. Pooled cultures were then purified based on the presence of the TRA-1-60 pluripotency surface antigen, resulting in the ability to rapidly expand iPS cells for subsequent applications. These new improvements permit a consistent and reliable method to generate human iPS cells with minimal clonal variations from blood MNCs, including previously difficult samples such as those from patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. In addition, this method of efficiently generating iPS cells under feeder-free and xeno-free conditions allows for the establishment of clinically compliant iPS cell lines for future therapeutic applications.

Neurotoxicity is mediated by a variety of modes-of-actions leading to disturbance of neuronal function. In order to screen larger numbers of compounds for their neurotoxic potential, in vitro functional neuronal networks (NN) might be helpful tools. We established and characterized human NN (hNN) from hiPSC-derived neural progenitor cells by comparing hNN formation with two different differentiation media: in presence (CINDA) and absence (neural differentiation medium (NDM)) of maturation-supporting factors. As a NN control we included differentiating rat NN (rNN) in the study. Gene/protein expression and electrical activity from in vitro developing NN were assessed at multiple time points. Transcriptomes of 5, 14 and 28 days in vitro CINDA-grown hNN were compared to gene expression profiles of in vivo human developing brains. Molecular expression analyses as well as measures of electrical activity indicate that NN mature into neurons of different subtypes and astrocytes over time. In contrast to rNN, hNN are less electrically active within the same period of differentiation time, yet hNN grown in CINDA medium develop higher firing rates than hNN without supplements. Challenge of NN with neuronal receptor stimulators and inhibitors demonstrate presence of inhibitory, GABAergic neurons, whereas glutamatergic responses are limited. hiPSC-derived GABAergic hNN grown in CINDA medium might be a useful tool as part of an in vitro battery for assessing neurotoxicity.

Otosclerosis is characterized by abnormal bone remodeling in the osseous labyrinth and progressive hearing loss. Although the etiology of otosclerosis is not fully understood, both environmental and genetic factors play important roles in its pathogenesis. Here, we generated an induced pluripotent stem cell line using episomal plasmid vectors from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a 48-year-old male with otosclerosis. The morphology and karyotype of the cells were normal. The expression of pluripotency markers was verified by mRNA and protein levels; the pluripotency state of the cell line was verified by successful differentiation into all three germ layers.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex, irreversible neurodegenerative disorder. At present there are neither reliable markers to diagnose AD at an early stage nor therapy. To investigate underlying disease mechanisms, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) allow the generation of patient-derived neuronal cells in a dish.

Human fibroblasts cells from a Crigler-Najjar Syndrome (CNS) patient were used to generate integration-free induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by over-expressing episomal-based plasmids expressing OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, KLF4, c-MYC and LIN28. The derived CNS705-iPSC line is homozygous for the UGT1A1 c.877_890delTACATTAATGCTTCinsA mutation. Pluripotency was confirmed by the expression of associated markers and embryoid body-based differentiation into cell types from all three germ layers. Comparative transcriptome analysis of the iPSC and the human embryonic stem cell line H9 revealed a Pearson's correlation of 0.9468.

A 45-year-old Han Male from China contributed peripheral blood mononuclear cells induced by reprogramming human OKSM transcription factors (OCT3/4, KLF4 SOX2 and C-MYC) with a non-integrated additional vector system. Immunological markers confirmed the pluripotent nature of IPSC. Spontaneous tridermal differentiation confirmed the differentiation ability of IPSC with normal karyotype.

With the development of cytology, the establishment of cell models in vitro has become a powerful means to study the mechanism and treatment of diseases. Here we successfully generated the IPSC-derived modeling system of a 25-year-old healthy male. His peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were reprogrammed using human OKSM (SOX2, OCT3/4, KLF4, and C-MYC) transcription factors using a non-integrated additional vector system. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated that IPSCS expressed all the markers of pluripotency and demonstrated their ability to differentiate spontaneously from three hypoderms in vitro. Karyotype is normal.

Pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is regulated by three transcription factors-OCT3/4, SOX2, and NANOG. To fully exploit the therapeutic potential of these cells it is essential to have a good mechanistic understanding of the maintenance of self-renewal and pluripotency. In this study, we demonstrate a powerful systems biology approach in which we first expand literature-based network encompassing the core regulators of pluripotency by assessing the behavior of genes targeted by perturbation experiments. We focused our attention on highly regulated genes encoding cell surface and secreted proteins as these can be more easily manipulated by the use of inhibitors or recombinant proteins. Qualitative modeling based on combining boolean networks and in silico perturbation experiments were employed to identify novel pluripotency-regulating genes. We validated Interleukin-11 (IL-11) and demonstrate that this cytokine is a novel pluripotency-associated factor capable of supporting self-renewal in the absence of exogenously added bFGF in culture. To date, the various protocols for hESCs maintenance require supplementation with bFGF to activate the Activin/Nodal branch of the TGFβ signaling pathway. Additional evidence supporting our findings is that IL-11 belongs to the same protein family as LIF, which is known to be necessary for maintaining pluripotency in mouse but not in human ESCs. These cytokines operate through the same gp130 receptor which interacts with Janus kinases. Our finding might explain why mESCs are in a more naïve cell state compared to hESCs and how to convert primed hESCs back to the naïve state. Taken together, our integrative modeling approach has identified novel genes as putative candidates to be incorporated into the expansion of the current gene regulatory network responsible for inducing and maintaining pluripotency.

A 62-years old Alzheimer's disease (AD) male patient donated his Peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The non-integrating episomal vector system used to reprogram PBMCs with Oct3/4, Klf4, Sox2 and c-Myc transcription factors. The pluripotency of transgene-free pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) was confirmed by immunocytochemistry for pluripotency markers-SOX2, NANOG, OCT3/4, SSEA4, TRA1-60, and TRA1-81. The differentiation capacity of the iPSCs into endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm was assessed by AFP, SMA and βIII-TUBULIN, respectively. In addition, the iPSC line displayed a normal karyotype. This iPSC line might offer a good cell model to explore the pathological mechanisms and treatment strategies for AD.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were donated by a healthy 61-year old Chinese Han female. Human OKSM (OCT3/4, KLF4 SOX2, and c-MYC) transcription factors were used to reprogram her PBMCs with the non-integrating episomal vector system. Immunocytochemistry for pluripotency makers confirmed the pluripotency of transgene-free iPSCs and their ability to differentiate spontaneously three germ layers in vitro. The iPSC line displayed a normal karyotype. Our model offers the possibility to be used a control in pathological mechanism studies.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were collected from a 65-year old healthy woman with Chinese Han genetic background. The PBMCs were reprogrammed with the human OKSM transcription factors using the non-integrating episomal vector system. The transgene-free iPSC showed pluripotency verified by immunocytochemistry for pluripotency markers and differentiated spontaneously toward the 3 germ layers in vitro. Furthermore, the iPSC line showed normal karyotype. The iPSC line can be used as control in disease mechanism studies. Resource table.

An 83-year old Alzheimer's disease (AD) male patient donated his Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The non-integrating episomal vector system used to reprogram PBMCs with the human OKSM transcription factors. The pluripotency of transgene-free iPSCs was confirmed by immunocytochemistry for pluripotency markers and by the ability of the iPSCs to differentiate spontaneously into 3 germ layers in vitro. In addition, the iPSC line displayed a normal karyotype. Our model might offer a good platform to further study the pathological mechanisms, to identify early biomarkers, and also for drug testing studies in AD.

A 32-year old Bipolar Disorder (BD) male patient donated his Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The non-integrating episomal vector system used to reprogram PBMCs with the human OKSM transcription factors. The pluripotency of transgene-free iPSCs was confirmed by immunocytochemistry for pluripotency markers and by the ability of the iPSCs to differentiate spontaneously into 3 germ layers in vitro. In addition, the iPSC line displayed a normal karyotype. Our model might offer a good platform to further study the pathological mechanisms, to identify early biomarkers, and also for drug testing studies in BD. Resource table.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) differentiated into hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) provide a defined and renewable source of cells for drug screening, toxicology and regenerative medicine. We previously reprogrammed human fetal foreskin fibroblast cells (HFF1) into iPSCs employing an episomal plasmid-based integration-free approach, this iPSC-line and the hESC lines H1 and H9 were used to model hepatogenesis in vitro. Biochemical characterisation confirmed glycogen storage, ICG uptake and release, urea and bile acid production, as well as CYP3A4 activity. Microarray-based transcriptome analyses was carried out using RNA isolated from the undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells and subsequent differentiation stages- definitive endoderm (DE) hepatic endoderm (HE) and HLCs. K-means identified 100 distinct clusters, for example, POU5F1/OCT4 marking the undifferentiated stage, SOX17 the DE stage, HNF4α the HE stage, and ALB specific to HLCs, fetal liver and primary human hepatocytes (PHH). This data descriptor describes these datasets which should be useful for gaining new insights into the molecular basis of hepatogenesis and associated gene regulatory networks.

A healthy 31-year-old Chinese Han female donated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Her PBMCs were reprogrammed with human OKSM (OCT3/4, KLF4 SOX2, and c-MYC) transcription factors by the non-integrating episomal vector system. Immunocytochemistry for pluripotency markers confirmed the pluripotency of transgene-free iPSCs. Their ability to differentiate spontaneously three germ layers in vitro is also confirmed. The iPSC line displayed a normal karyotype. This model can be used as a control in pathological mechanism studies.

The genotype of apolipoprotein E (APOE) is closely associated with susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease. Here, we described the generation and characterization of human induced pluripotent stem cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of a 79-year-old female patient with Alzheimer's disease having APOE3/4 genotype. The generated iPSCs expressed pluripotent stem cell markers that were observed using immunocytochemistry. Moreover, they displayed a normal karyotype and had the potential to differentiate spontaneously into three germ layers in vitro. Our model could provide valuable insights into pathological mechanisms, and offer a unique opportunity for developing drugs against specific phenotypes for Alzheimer's disease therapy.