Application of Live Mitochondria Staining in Cell-Sorting to Purify Hepatocytes Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Summary

Hepatocytes derived from pluripotent stem cells can be purified through cell sorting, using a combination of mitochondrial and activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM, also known as CD166) staining.

Abstract

Human embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have potential applications in cell-based regenerative medicine for treating severely diseased organs due to their unlimited proliferation and pluripotent properties. However, differentiating human ES/iPS cells into 100% pure target cell types is challenging due to their high sensitivity to the environment. Tumorigenesis after transplantation is caused by contaminated, proliferating, and undifferentiated cells, making high-purification technology essential for the safe realization of regenerative medicine. To mitigate the risk of tumorigenesis, a high-purification technology has been developed for human iPS cell-derived hepatocytes. The method employs FACS (fluorescence-activated cell sorting) using a combination of high mitochondrial content and the cell-surface marker ALCAM (activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule) without genetic modification. 97% ± 0.38% (n = 5) of the purified hepatocytes using this method exhibited albumin protein expression. This article aims to provide detailed procedures for this method, as applied to the most current two-dimensional differentiation method for human iPS cells into hepatocytes.

Introduction

Embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (ES and iPS, respectively) are considered promising cell sources for regenerative therapies. However, the efficiency of differentiating these cells into specific target cell types can vary, even when using the same cell line, protocol, and experimenter^1,2,3,4. This variability may be attributed to the high sensitivity of human ES/iPS cells to their environment. Therefore, it is currently difficult to consistently obtain pure target cells. To achieve highly safe regenerative medicine, it is crucial....

Protocol

This study used commercially obtained human iPS cells (253G1 strain) (see Table of Materials).

1. Maintenance of human iPS cells

1. Maintain human iPS cells in feeder-free conditions in AK02 medium on culture dishes coated with 0.25 µg/cm² iMatrix-511 (see Table of Materials).

2. Hepatic differentiation of human iPS cells in 2D cultures

NOTE:.......

Discussion

Due to their functions in nutrient metabolism and detoxification, hepatocytes possess a relatively large number of mitochondria compared to other cell types¹⁵. ALCAM is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and plays a role in cell adhesion and migration. It is expressed in various cell types, including hepatic, epithelial, lymphocytic, myeloid, fibroblast, and neuronal cells¹⁶. By utilizing a combination of the mitochondria-based method and the ALCAM antibody, human i.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
253G1 human iPS cell line	RIKEN BioResource Research Center	HPS0002
4% paraformaldehyde	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	163-20145
Activin A Solution, Human, Recombinant	NACALAI TESQUE, INC.	18585
Anti-Nuclei Antibody, clone 235-1	Chemicon	MAB1281	Antibody against human nuclear antigen
B-27 Supplement (50x), serum free	Thermo Fisher Scientific	17504044
BD FACSAria III	BD Biosciences		Cell sorter
CHIR-99021	MedChemExpress	HY-10182
Ciclosporin A	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	035-18961
Collagenase	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	034-22363
Corning Matrigel Growth Factor Reduced (GFR) Basement Membrane Matrix	Corning	354230	Gel-like basement membrane matrix
CultureSure Y-27632	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	036-24023	ROCK inhibitor
Dexamethasone	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	047-18863
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	047-29353
Donkey anti-Goat IgG (H+L) Cross-Adsorbed Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor 488	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A-11055
Donkey anti-Mouse IgG (H+L) Highly Cross-Adsorbed Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor 546	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A10036
Donkey anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L) Highly Cross-Adsorbed Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor 488	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A-21206
Falcon 5 mL Round Bottom Polystyrene Test Tube, with Cell Strainer Snap Cap	Corning	352235
Fetal Bovine Serum	Biowest	51820-500
GlutaMAX Supplement	Thermo Fisher Scientific	35050061	Dipeptide L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine
Human/Mouse/Rat/Canine ALCAM/CD166 Antibody	R&D Systems	AF1172
Hydrocortisone 21-hemisuccinate sodium salt	Sigma-Aldrich	H2270
iMatrix-511 silk	Nippi	892021
ImmunoBlock	KAC	CTKN001	Blocking solution
ITS-G Supplement(×100)	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	090-06741
Leibovitz's L-15 Medium	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	128-06075
N-Hexanoic-Try-Ile-(6)-amino Hexanoic amide (Dihexa)	Toronto Research Chemicals	H293745
Polyclonal Rabbit Anti-Human Albumin	Dako	A0001
Polyoxyethylene Sorbitan Monolaurate (Tween 20)	NACALAI TESQUE, INC.	28353-85
RPMI-1640	FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation	189-02025
Sodium L-Ascorbate	NACALAI TESQUE, INC.	03422-32
StemFit AK02N	REPROCELL	RCAK02N
TBS (10x)	NACALAI TESQUE, INC.	12748-31
Tetramethylrhodamine, methyl ester (TMRM)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	T668
Triton X-100	NACALAI TESQUE, INC.	28229-25
Trypan Blue Solution	NACALAI TESQUE, INC.	20577-34
TRYPSIN 250	Difco	215240
Tryptose phosphate broth solution	Sigma-Aldrich	T8159