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In This Article

  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Protocol
  • Representative Results
  • Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Materials
  • References
  • Reprints and Permissions

Summary

This article presents a protocol for directed differentiation and functional analysis of β-cell like cells. We describe optimal culture conditions and passages for human pluripotent stem cells before generating insulin-producing pancreatic cells. The six-stage differentiation progresses from definitive endoderm formation to functional β-cell like cells secreting insulin in response to glucose.

Abstract

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) can differentiate into any kind of cell, making them an excellent alternative source of human pancreatic β-cells. hPSCs can either be embryonic stem cells (hESCs) derived from the blastocyst or induced pluripotent cells (hiPSCs) generated directly from somatic cells using a reprogramming process. Here a video-based protocol is presented to outline the optimal culture and passage conditions for hPSCs, prior to their differentiation and subsequent generation of insulin-producing pancreatic cells. This methodology follows the six-stage process for β-cell directed differentiation, wherein hPSCs differentiate into definitive endoderm (DE), primitive gut tube, posterior foregut fate, pancreatic progenitors, pancreatic endocrine progenitors, and ultimately pancreatic β-cells. It is noteworthy that this differentiation methodology takes a period of 27 days to generate human pancreatic β-cells. The potential of insulin secretion was evaluated through two experiments, which included immunostaining and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.

Introduction

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have the unique ability to differentiate into various cell types, making them a viable alternative to human pancreatic β-cells1. These hPSCs are categorized into two types: embryonic stem cells (hESCs), derived from the blastocyst2, and induced pluripotent cells (hiPSCs), generated by reprogramming somatic cells directly3. The development of techniques to differentiate hPSCs into β-cells, has important implications for both fundamental research and clinical practice1,4. Diabetes mellitus is a ....

Protocol

Prior to initiating differentiation, it is recommended to determine the required number of islet-like organoids for experimental purposes. In a 6 well plate, a single well with over 80% confluency typically consists of 2-2.3 million hPSCs. While an accurate prediction is challenging due to variations in hPSC lines and differentiation efficiency, a rough estimate is 1.5 times the number of initial wells. An effectively directed differentiation usually yields 1.6 to 2 million cells per well in six-well plates, encompassing.......

Representative Results

The protocol described in this paper offers a highly efficient approach for differentiating β-like cells from hPSCs10. This process utilizes a 2D culture system that is easily scalable, enabling its use in various experimental settings, such as learning differentiation, smaller projects and laboratories, and pilot tests to assess the potential of an iPSC line for differentiation.

It is essential to characterize the functional properties of differentiated β-cel.......

Discussion

The successful differentiation of hPSCs into pancreatic β-cells depends on optimizing all aspects of routine culturing and passage of the selected hPSCs. This includes ensuring that the cell line has a normal karyotype, is negative for mycoplasma infection, and is free of plasmid or viral vector genomes. Furthermore, when using hiPSCs, it is important to avoid using the earliest passage which are still undergoing reprogramming, for pilot experiments. These experiments should be conducted on a small scale to identify.......

Acknowledgements

Ines Cherkaoui was supported by a Diabetes UK studentship (BDA 18/0005934) to GAR, who also thanks the Wellcome Trust for an Investigator Award (212625/Z/18/Z), UKRI MRC for a Programme grant (MR/R022259/1), Diabetes UK for Project grant (BDA16/0005485), CRCHUM for start-up funds, Innovation Canada for a John R. Evans Leader Award (CFI 42649), NIH-NIDDK (R01DK135268) for a project grant, and CIHR, JDRF for a team grant (CIHR-IRSC:0682002550; JDRF 4-SRA-2023-1182-S-N). Camille Dion and Dr Harry Leitch for their help with human hiPSCs generation and culture, the NIHR Imperial BRC (Biomedical Research Centre) Organoid facility, London.

....

Materials

NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
1.5 mL TubeOne Microcentrifuge TubeStarlabsS1615-5500
6-well Cell culture plateThermoFisher Scientific165218
AggreWell 400 6-well plate STEMCELL Technologies34425
Anti-Glucagon Sigma-aldrichG2654-100UL
Anti-Insulin DakoA0564
Anti-NKX6.1Novus BiologicalsNBP1-49672SS
Anti-PDX1 Abcamab84987
AphidicolinSigma-AldrichA4487
B-27 Supplement (50X), serum free Thermo Fisher Scientific17504044
Bovine Serum Albumin, fatty acid freeSigma-AldrichA3803-100G
Calcium chloride dihydrateSigma-AldrichC3306
Calcium/Magnesium free D-PBSThermo Fisher Scientific14190144
Cyclopamine-KAADCalbiochem239804
D-(+)-Glucose,BioXtraSigma-AldrichG7528
Disodium hydrogen phosphate, anhydrousSigma-Aldrich94046-100ML-
DMEM plus GlutaMAXThermo Fisher Scientific10566016For Washing Medium 2: DMEM plus GlutaMAX 1% PS. 
DMEM/F-12 (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium/Nutrient Mixture F-12)Thermo Fisher Scientific10565-018
Epredi SuperFrost Plus Adhesion slidesThermo Fisher Scientific10149870
EthanolVWR20821.33
Fetal Bovine SerumThermo Fisher Scientific10270098
Gamma-Secretase Inhibitor XXThermo Fisher ScientificJ64904
Geltrex LDEV-Free Reduced Growth Factor BasementThermo Fisher ScientificA1413302Geltrex 1:1 into cold DMEM/F-12 medium to provide a final dilution of 1:100.
Goat Anti-Guinea pig, Alexa Fluor 555Thermo Fisher ScientificA-21435
Goat Anti-Guinea pig, Alexa Fluor 647Abcamab150187
Goat anti-Mouse Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor 633Thermo Fisher ScientificA-21052
Goat anti-Rabbit IgG Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor 568Thermo Fisher ScientificA-11011
HeparinSigma-AldrichH3149
HEPES bufferSigma-AldrichH3375-500G
Hoechst 33342, TrihydrochlorideThermo Fisher ScientificH1399
Human FGF-7 (KGF) Recombinant ProteinThermo Fisher ScientificPHG0094
Hydrogen chlorideSigma-Aldrich295426
ImmEdge Hydrophobic Barrier PAP PenAgar ScientificAGG4582
LDN193189Sigma-AldrichSML0559-5MG
Magnesium chloride hexahydrateSigma-AldrichM9272-500G
OCT Compound 118 mLAgar ScientificAGR1180
PBS Tablets, Phosphate Buffered Saline, Fisher BioReagentsThermo Fisher Scientific7647-14-5
Penicillin-Streptomycin (PS)Thermo Fisher Scientific,15070-063
Potassium chlorideSigma-Aldrich7447-40-7
Recombinant Human EGF ProteinR&D Systems236-EG-200
Rectangular cover glasses, 22×50 mmVWR631-0137
RepSox (Hydrochloride)STEMCELL Technologies72394
RPMI 1640 Medium, GlutaMAX Supplement  Thermo Fisher Scientific61870036For Washing Medium 1: RPMI 1640 plus GlutaMAX 1% PS.
Shandon Immu-mountThermo Fisher Scientific9990402
Sodium bicarbonateSigma-AldrichS6014-500G
Sodium chlorideSigma-AldrichS3014
Sodium dihydrogen phosphate anhydrousSigma-Aldrich7558-80-7
STEMdiff Endoderm STEMCELL Technologies5110
StemFlex MediumThermo Fisher ScientificA3349401Thaw the StemFlex Supplement overnight at 4°C, transfer any residual liquid of the supplement bottle to StemFlex Basal Medium.
Stemolecule All-Trans Retinoic AcidReprocell04-0021 
Thyroid Tormone 3 (T3)Sigma-AldrichT6397
Trypan Blue Solution, 0.4%ThermoFisher Scientific15250061
TrypL Express Enzyme (1X)Thermo Fisher Scientific12604013
TWEEN 20Sigma-AldrichP2287-500ML
Ultra-Low Adherent Plate for Suspension CultureThermo Fisher Scientific38071
UltraPure DNase/RNase-Free Distilled WaterThermo Fisher Scientific10977015
Y-27632 (Dihydrochloride) STEMCELL Technologies72302
Zinc SulfateSigma-Aldrich Z4750

References

  1. Kolios, G., Moodley, Y. Introduction to stem cells and regenerative medicine. Respiration. 85 (1), 3-10 (2013).
  2. Thomson, J. A., et al. Embryonic stem cell lines derived from human blastocysts. Science. <....

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