Optimized Protocol for Generating Functional Pancreatic Insulin-secreting Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

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 practice^1,4. 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.......

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.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
1.5 mL TubeOne Microcentrifuge Tube	Starlabs	S1615-5500
6-well Cell culture plate	ThermoFisher Scientific	165218
AggreWell 400 6-well plate	STEMCELL Technologies	34425
Anti-Glucagon	Sigma-aldrich	G2654-100UL
Anti-Insulin	Dako	A0564
Anti-NKX6.1	Novus Biologicals	NBP1-49672SS
Anti-PDX1	Abcam	ab84987
Aphidicolin	Sigma-Aldrich	A4487
B-27 Supplement (50X), serum free	Thermo Fisher Scientific	17504044
Bovine Serum Albumin, fatty acid free	Sigma-Aldrich	A3803-100G
Calcium chloride dihydrate	Sigma-Aldrich	C3306
Calcium/Magnesium free D-PBS	Thermo Fisher Scientific	14190144
Cyclopamine-KAAD	Calbiochem	239804
D-(+)-Glucose,BioXtra	Sigma-Aldrich	G7528
Disodium hydrogen phosphate, anhydrous	Sigma-Aldrich	94046-100ML-
DMEM plus GlutaMAX	Thermo Fisher Scientific	10566016	For Washing Medium 2: DMEM plus GlutaMAX 1% PS.
DMEM/F-12 (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium/Nutrient Mixture F-12)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	10565-018
Epredi SuperFrost Plus Adhesion slides	Thermo Fisher Scientific	10149870
Ethanol	VWR	20821.33
Fetal Bovine Serum	Thermo Fisher Scientific	10270098
Gamma-Secretase Inhibitor XX	Thermo Fisher Scientific	J64904
Geltrex LDEV-Free Reduced Growth Factor Basement	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A1413302	Geltrex 1:1 into cold DMEM/F-12 medium to provide a final dilution of 1:100.
Goat Anti-Guinea pig, Alexa Fluor 555	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A-21435
Goat Anti-Guinea pig, Alexa Fluor 647	Abcam	ab150187
Goat anti-Mouse Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor 633	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A-21052
Goat anti-Rabbit IgG Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor 568	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A-11011
Heparin	Sigma-Aldrich	H3149
HEPES buffer	Sigma-Aldrich	H3375-500G
Hoechst 33342, Trihydrochloride	Thermo Fisher Scientific	H1399
Human FGF-7 (KGF) Recombinant Protein	Thermo Fisher Scientific	PHG0094
Hydrogen chloride	Sigma-Aldrich	295426
ImmEdge Hydrophobic Barrier PAP Pen	Agar Scientific	AGG4582
LDN193189	Sigma-Aldrich	SML0559-5MG
Magnesium chloride hexahydrate	Sigma-Aldrich	M9272-500G
OCT Compound 118 mL	Agar Scientific	AGR1180
PBS Tablets, Phosphate Buffered Saline, Fisher BioReagents	Thermo Fisher Scientific	7647-14-5
Penicillin-Streptomycin (PS)	Thermo Fisher Scientific,	15070-063
Potassium chloride	Sigma-Aldrich	7447-40-7
Recombinant Human EGF Protein	R&D Systems	236-EG-200
Rectangular cover glasses, 22×50 mm	VWR	631-0137
RepSox (Hydrochloride)	STEMCELL Technologies	72394
RPMI 1640 Medium, GlutaMAX Supplement	Thermo Fisher Scientific	61870036	For Washing Medium 1: RPMI 1640 plus GlutaMAX 1% PS.
Shandon Immu-mount	Thermo Fisher Scientific	9990402
Sodium bicarbonate	Sigma-Aldrich	S6014-500G
Sodium chloride	Sigma-Aldrich	S3014
Sodium dihydrogen phosphate anhydrous	Sigma-Aldrich	7558-80-7
STEMdiff Endoderm	STEMCELL Technologies	5110
StemFlex Medium	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A3349401	Thaw the StemFlex Supplement overnight at 4°C, transfer any residual liquid of the supplement bottle to StemFlex Basal Medium.
Stemolecule All-Trans Retinoic Acid	Reprocell	04-0021
Thyroid Tormone 3 (T3)	Sigma-Aldrich	T6397
Trypan Blue Solution, 0.4%	ThermoFisher Scientific	15250061
TrypL Express Enzyme (1X)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	12604013
TWEEN 20	Sigma-Aldrich	P2287-500ML
Ultra-Low Adherent Plate for Suspension Culture	Thermo Fisher Scientific	38071
UltraPure DNase/RNase-Free Distilled Water	Thermo Fisher Scientific	10977015
Y-27632 (Dihydrochloride)	STEMCELL Technologies	72302
Zinc Sulfate	Sigma-Aldrich	Z4750