We thank Dr. Leonid Gnatovskiy for his carefully and critical reading of the paper. This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (HL109054) and the Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center, University of Michigan (Inaugural Fund) to WZ and from the Leon H Charney Division of Cardiology, New York University School of Medicine to BL.

1. Derivation of Mouse Embryonic CPCs from Mouse ESCs
<ol>
	<li>Prepare mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) feeder layer.
	<ol>
		<li>Warm MEF medium (10% FBS in DMEM) to 37 &#176;C.</li>
		<li>Prepare gelatin coated plates.
		<ol>
			<li>Add 1 ml of 0.1% Gelatin in water into a well of 6-well plate or 5 ml into a 10 cm dish.</li>
			<li>Leave plates or dishes at 37 &#176;C or room temperature for at least 30 min. Aspire the gelatin prior to use.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Thaw irradiated MEFs quickly in a 37 &#176;C water bath, with gentle shaking.</li>
		<li>Transfer the cells gently to a 15 ml or 50 ml conical tube. Add 5 ml of pre-warmed MEF medium. Swirl the cells slowly and centrifuge at 200 x g for 5 min.</li>
		<li>Resuspend cells in MEF medium and count viable cells. Use the following volumes of MEF medium: 2 ml for cells per well from a 6-well plate and 10 ml for cells from a 10 cm dish.</li>
		<li>Plate cells into 6-well plates or 10 cm dishes at 1-2 x 106 per plate/dish.</li>
		<li>Incubate the MEF plates/dishes at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 at least 24 hr prior to use. 
		NOTE: Discard MEF plates/dishes older than a week.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Prepare mouse ESCs
	<ol>
		<li>Culture the Isl1-cre; Rosa26YFP/ Mef2c-cre; Rosa26YFP mouse ESCs on MEFs till 90% confluent. Use ES cell medium comprised of 410 ml DMEM, 75 ml FBS, 0.1 mM MEM NEAA, 2 mM L-glutamine, 0.1 mM Pyruvate, 100 U Pen/Strep, and 0.1 mM &#946;-mercaptoethanol.</li>
		<li>Prepare gelatin coated 6-well plates as described in 1.1.2.</li>
		<li>Aspirate medium from plates and rinse cells with DPBS.
		<ol>
			<li>Aspirate DPBS and add 0.4 ml 0.25% Trypsin into one well of 6-well plate. Incubate cells at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 for 5 min. Add 1 ml pre-warmed ES medium to cease Trypsin reaction.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Harvest cells and centrifuge cells at 200 x g and aspirate medium. Resuspend cells in 1 ml ES cell medium and count the cells.</li>
		<li>Plate ESCs on gelatin-coated plates at density of 3 x 104/cm2. Incubate at 37 &#176;C, 5% CO2 for about 2 days when ESCs reach about 90% confluent. Change the medium everyday.</li>
		<li>When ESCs are 90% confluent, repeat Steps 1.2.2-1.2.5 to completely remove the MEF feeders.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Induce CPC differentiation by EB formation
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare differentiation medium as followed: 36 ml IMDM, 12 ml Ham&#8217;s F12, 2 mM L-glutamine, 0.34 ml BSA (7.5%), 0.25 ml N2, 0.5 ml B27, 50 &#181;g/ml AA, and 0.45 mM 1-thioglycerol.</li>
		<li>Aspirate medium from cells and rinse with DPBS. Aspirate DPBS and add 0.4 ml 0.25% Trypsin into one well of 6-well plate. Incubate at 37 &#176;C for 5 min.</li>
		<li>Add 1 ml differentiation medium to cease the reaction and pipette up and down to disperse cell clusters into single cells.</li>
		<li>Centrifuge ESCs at 200 x g for 5 min and discard the medium.
		<ol>
			<li>Resuspend 1 x 106 ESCs in 1 ml differentiation medium. Count the cells, and culture the cells in low detachment Petri dish at concentration of 1 x 105 cells/ml in differentiation medium at 37 &#176;C for first EB aggregation.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Two days after EB formation, transfer EBs from dishes to 50 ml tubes. Spin at 200 x g for 1 min. Remove medium and rinse EBs with 10 ml DPBS without Ca2+ and Mg2+.</li>
		<li>Aspirate DPBS and add 1 ml 0.25% Trypsin. Incubate at 37 &#176;C for 5 min. Add 4.5 ml differentiation medium to stop the reaction. Pipet up and down to dissociate EBs into single cells.</li>
		<li>Centrifuge the cells at 200 x g for 5 min. Aspirate medium and resuspend cells in 1 ml differentiation medium.</li>
		<li>Count the cells, and dilute 2 x 106 cells to 1 x 105 cells/ml in differentiation medium. Add VEGF, Bmp4 and Activin A to the medium at final concentration of 5 ng/ml, 0.8 ng/ml, and 5 ng/ml, respectively. Culture the cells in Petri dish for second EB formation at 37 &#176;C.</li>
		<li>40 hr after second EB formation, transfer EBs to 50 ml tubes. Rinse with DPBS once, dissociate EBs with 1 ml 0.25% Trypsin at 37 &#176;C for 5 min. Pipet up and down to dissociate EBs into single cells.</li>
		<li>Resuspend the cells in Stempro-34 medium with 5 ng/ml VEGF, 10 ng/ml bFGF and 12.5 ng/ml FGF10. Plate the cells at 2 x 105/cm2 in gelatin-coated plates. Culture in 37 &#176;C incubator for about 32 hr before CPC isolation.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Isolate mCPCs
	<ol>
		<li>Aspirate medium and rinse with DPBS. Add 0.5 ml 0.25% Trypsin to culture plates at 37 &#176;C for 5 min. Add 4.5 ml differentiation medium to stop the reaction. Pipet up and down to dissociate EBs into single cells. Collect the cells by centrifuge and resuspend cells in 2% FBS/PBS for FACS-purification.</li>
		<li>Run undifferentiated ESCs on sorter as the negative control. Change voltage to adjust forward scatter (FSC) and side scatter (SSC) to select desired population. Use forward scatter versus side scatter and forward scatter height versus width to exclude debris and doublet. In the selected sub-population, according to the distribution of ESC controls, draw a gate of YFP positive on histogram to eliminate cell autofluorescence. Collect YFP+ CPCs from YFP+ gating.</li>
		<li>Plate the purified CPCs (YFP+ cells) in 6-well plates with differentiation medium (1.3.1). Culture additional 3-5 days at 37 &#176;C for differentiation of CPCs into cardiomyocytes and SMCs.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
2. Derivation of Human Embryonic CPCs from Human ESCs
<ol>
	<li>Prepare Feeders
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) feeder layer as described above at a density of 2 x 104/cm2.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Maintain human ESCs
	<ol>
		<li>Maintain human ISL1:cre;pCAG-flox-STOP-flox-GFP or RFP ESCs routinely on MEF using regular hESC medium (Knockout DMEM/F-12 385 ml, Knockout SR 100 ml, 2 mM L-glutamine, 0.1 mM NEAA, 0.1 mM &#946;-mercaptoethanol, 10 ng/ml basic FGF). Prior to cardiac differentiation, transfer human ESCs in feeder free condition for at least 2 passages.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Prepare human ESCs in feeder free condition
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare coated plates for human ESCs culture.
		<ol>
			<li>Thaw matrigel at 4 &#176;C overnight. Put a 50 ml tube on ice and add 30 ml cold DMEM/F12 medium into the tube.</li>
			<li>Add 1 ml matrigel into the cold medium and mix well. Add 1 ml cold matrigel-DMEM/12 medium into a well of 6-well plate or 5 ml into a 10 cm dish.</li>
			<li>Leave plates/dishes at 4 &#176;C overnight or room temperature for 2 hr. Aspirate medium prior to use.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Split human ESCs onto the plates: Aspirate media from MEF plate and rinse human ESCs with DPBS. Then add 1 ml dispase (1 mg/ml) to a well of 6-well plate. Incubate cells in 37 &#176;C incubator until edges of colonies start to detach.</li>
		<li>Remove dispase solution. Rinse with DPBS twice, then add 2.5 ml/per well mTeSR medium or MEF-conditioned medium to the plate.</li>
		<li>Scrape cells using a cell scraper and carefully pipet up and down to break human ESC colonies into small clumps.</li>
		<li>Transfer the ESC clumps and dilute 1:3 into the coated plates.</li>
		<li>Add 2 ml/well mTeSR medium or MEF-conditioned medium and change medium daily.</li>
		<li>Culture human ESCs in mTeSR medium or MEF-conditioned medium on coated plates for at least 2 passages.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Induce CPC differentiation from human ESCs
	<ol>
		<li>When cells are ~90% confluent, aspirate the medium and rinse with DPBS. Then incubate the hESCs in 0.5 mg/ml Dispase at 37 &#176;C for 20 min.</li>
		<li>Rinse the hESCs with DPBS twice, remove cells from plates with a cell lifter, then resuspend cell clamps in differentiation medium (DMEM/F12 containing 18% FBS, 0.1 mM NEAA, 2 mM L-glutamine, 0.1 mM &#946;-mercaptoethanol and 50 &#181;g/ml Ascorbic Acid).</li>
		<li>Transfer cells into 6-well ultra-low attachment plates for EB formation.</li>
		<li>Change differentiation medium next day.</li>
		<li>Replace medium every 3 days and maintain EBs in suspension culture.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Isolate hCPCs
	<ol>
		<li>Collect EBs no later than day 9 of differentiation for human CPC isolation.</li>
		<li>Aspirate medium and rinse EBs with DPBS twice. Add 0.5 ml 0.25% Trypsin to each well of 6-well culture plates at 37 &#176;C for 5 min.</li>
		<li>Add equal volume of differentiation medium to stop the reaction. Pipet up and down to dissociate EBs into single cells. Collect the cells by centrifuge at 200 x g for 5 min and resuspend cells in 2% FBS/DPBS. Filter cells with 40 &#181;m cell strainer and FACS-purified the RFP+ CPC cells as described in 1.4.3.</li>
		<li>Plate sorted hCPCs onto geltin-coated plates. Culture hCPCs in differentiation medium for 7-9 days to differentiate into cardiomyocyte and smooth muscle cells. 7 days after plating, culture differentiated cells with 5% Knockout SR in DMEM/F12 medium.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

This protocol combines a method using growth factors to guide mESCs differentiation and spontaneous differentiation of human ESCs into CPCs. CPC lineage marked with fluorescent reporter is used to efficiently identify and isolate CPCs by FACS. The FACS-purified CPCs retain the capacity to differentiate into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle, and endothelial cells and have a comparable expression profile to the in vivo cells. Thus, these CPCs can serve as a great resource for cell based heart therapy because of their ability ...

A correction to the author list was made to: <a href="http://www.jove.com/video/52047/derivation-of-cardiac-progenitor-cells-from-embryonic-stem-cells">Derivation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells</a>.
The following author is now listed as a co-corresponding author:
Lei Bu

A correction to the author list was made to: Derivation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells.

Erratum: Derivation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells

Heart disease remains the leading cause in the world today and the death rates have remained virtually unchanged in the past two decades (American Heart Association). There is a critical need for developing novel therapeutic strategies to effectively prevent or reverse heart failure. One promising strategy is cell-based therapy following the rapid development of stem cell biology1. In this regard, multipotent CPCs could be an excellent cell source for the therapy due to their ability to proliferate but committed only to cardiac lineage differentiation. Therefore, efficient and robust method to generate and isolate CPCs is of great importance for heart cell therapy studies.
This protocol focuses on embryonic CPCs identified during early embryogenesis and how their generation from ESCs. Various CPCs have been isolated from embryonic and adult hearts, even from bone marrows2. During embryo development, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), wingless-type MMTV integration site family members (Wnts) and Nodal signals induce the commitment of the Mesp1+ multipotent mesoderm3. Mesp1+ cells then differentiate into the embryonic CPCs4. These CPCs are typically marked by HCN4, NK2 homeobox 5 (Nkx2-5), Isl LIM homeobox 1 (Isl1), T-box 5 (Tbx5), and myocyte enhancer factor 2C (Mef2c), form primary and second heart fields, and contribute to the major parts of heart during cardiogenesis5-10. Both Nkx2-5+ and Isl1+/Mef2c+ CPCs are able to differentiate into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and endothelial cells5-8. Thus these CPCs will give rise to cardiac vasculature as well as cardiac tissues and are an ideal cell source for cell-based heart therapy. Consequently, generating CPCs in vitro has been a major research focus in cardiovascular studies. Since ESCs have unlimited expansion capacity and represent the ICM cells at the blastocyst stage, differentiation of ESCs into embryonic CPCs following the natural embryogenesis is considered a logical and effective approach to obtain CPCs.
One widely applied approach to obtain CPCs from ESCs is to aggregate ESCs into EBs11. To improve the differentiation efficiency, defined chemical and growth factors based on the knowledge of cardiac development have been used12-14. However, there are no definitive CPC markers, particularly no cell-surface markers, which are widely accepted in the field. To address this issue, ESCs are engineered to mark Isl1+ or Mef2c+ CPCs and their derivatives with fluorescent reporters using Cre/loxP system. The cre recombinase is knocked in under the control of Isl1/Mef2c promoter/enhancer. Modified fluorescent protein RFP or YFP gene driven by a constitutive promoter can be activated by excision of flox stop codon with cre recombinase (ISL1:cre;pCAG-flox-STOP-flox-GFP or RFP/Isl1-cre;Rosa26YFP/Mef2c-cre;Rosa26YFP)5,6. Once the ESCs are differentiated into second heart field CPCs, Isl1/Mef2c promoter/enhancer driven cre will activate the fluorescent reporters and CPCs can be enriched by FACS-purification. Briefly, EB aggregation method is used to initiate ESC differentiation. To enhance differentiation efficiency, the differentiated cells are treated with ascorbic acid (AA) and growth factors such as Bmp4, Activin A and Vegf13,15. This protocol allows robust and efficient CPC differentiation using both mouse and human ESCs.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="415">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:128px;">Name</td>
			<td style="width:156px;">Company</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">Catalog Number</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">FBS</td>
			<td>Thermo scentific</td>
			<td>SH30070.03E</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Knockout SR</td>
			<td>Life technology</td>
			<td align="right">10828028</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
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			<td>Life technology</td>
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			<td>Life technology</td>
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			<td>A5960</td>
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			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>M3148</td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">VEGF</td>
			<td>R&#38;D</td>
			<td>293-VE</td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Bmp4</td>
			<td>R&#38;D</td>
			<td>314-BP</td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">ActivinA</td>
			<td>R&#38;D</td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">bFgf</td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Fgf10</td>
			<td>R&#38;D</td>
			<td>345-FG</td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">mTeSR</td>
			<td>Stemcell technologies</td>
			<td align="right">5850</td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Matrigel</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td align="right">354277</td>
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derivation of cardiac progenitor cells from embryonic stem cells

Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) have the capacity to differentiate into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells (SMC), and endothelial cells and hold great promise in cell therapy against heart disease. Among various methods to isolate CPCs, differentiation of embryonic stem cell (ESC) into CPCs attracts great attention in the field since ESCs can provide unlimited cell source. As a result, numerous strategies have been developed to derive CPCs from ESCs. In this protocol, differentiation and purification of embryonic CPCs from both mouse and human ESCs is described. Due to the difficulty of using cell surface markers to isolate embryonic CPCs, ESCs are engineered with fluorescent reporters activated by CPC-specific cre recombinase expression. Thus, CPCs can be enriched by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). This protocol illustrates procedures to form embryoid bodies (EBs) from ESCs for CPC specification and enrichment. The isolated CPCs can be subsequently cultured for cardiac lineage differentiation and other biological assays. This protocol is optimized for robust and efficient derivation of CPCs from both mouse and human ESCs.

The protocol shows derivation of CPCs from several ES cell lines. ESCs are aggregated to form EBs to differentiate into CPCs. ESCs are routinely maintained on MEF feeders (Figure 1A, F) and feeders are removed before differentiation. Upon aggregation of ESCs into EBs in differentiation medium (Figure 1B, G), the second formed EBs are treated with Bmp4 and Activin A to enhance the mesoderm differentiation in mouse cell lines (Figure 1C). ESCs are differentiated into cardi...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Derivation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells at JoVE.com

Derivation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells

In this protocol, derivation of cardiac progenitor cells from both mouse and human embryonic stem cells will be illustrated. A major strategy in this protocol is to enrich cardiac progenitor cells with flow cytometry using fluorescent reporters engineered into the embryonic stem cell lines.

Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) have the capacity to differentiate into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells (SMC), and endothelial cells and hold great ...

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Developmental Biology

8.1K Views.  University of Michigan. In this protocol, derivation of cardiac progenitor cells from both mouse and human embryonic stem cells will be illustrated. A major strategy in this protocol is to enrich cardiac progenitor cells with flow cytometry using fluorescent reporters engineered into the embryonic stem cell lines.

Video: Derivation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells

Efficient Derivation of Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells from Stem Cells

No cure has been discovered for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss in people over the age of 55. AMD is complex multifactorial disease with an unknown etiology, although it is largely thought to occur due to death or dysfunction of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a monolayer of cells that underlies the retina and provides critical support for photoreceptors. RPE cell replacement strategies may hold great promise for providing therapeutic relief for a large subset of AMD patients, and RPE cells that strongly resemble primary human cells (hRPE) have been generated in multiple independent labs, including our own. In addition, the uses for iPS-RPE are not limited to cell-based therapies, but also have been used to model RPE diseases. These types of studies may not only elucidate the molecular bases of the diseases, but also serve as invaluable tools for developing and testing novel drugs. We present here an optimized protocol for directed differentiation of RPE from stem cells. Adding nicotinamide and either Activin A or IDE-1, a small molecule that mimics its effects, at specific time points, greatly enhances the yield of RPE cells. Using this technique we can derive large numbers of low passage RPE in as early as three months.

Stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells may be used for multiple applications including cell-based therapies for retinal degeneration, disease modeling, and drug studies. Here we present a simple protocol for reproducibly deriving RPE from stem cells.

No cure has been discovered for age-related macular degeneration  (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss in people over the age of 55. AMD is complex ...

Direct Induction of Human Neural Stem Cells from Peripheral Blood Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells

Human disease specific neuronal cultures are essential for generating in vitro models for human neurological diseases. However, the lack of access to primary human adult neural cultures raises unique challenges. Recent developments in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) provides an alternative approach to derive neural cultures from skin fibroblasts through patient specific iPSC, but this process is labor intensive, requires special expertise and large amounts of resources, and can take several months. This prevents the wide application of this technology to the study of neurological diseases. To overcome some of these issues, we have developed a method to derive neural stem cells directly from human adult peripheral blood, bypassing the iPSC derivation process. Hematopoietic progenitor cells enriched from human adult peripheral blood were cultured in vitro and transfected with Sendai virus vectors containing transcriptional factors Sox2, Oct3/4, Klf4, and c-Myc. The transfection results in morphological changes in the cells which are further selected by using human neural progenitor medium containing basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The resulting cells are characterized by the expression for neural stem cell markers, such as nestin and SOX2. These neural stem cells could be further differentiated to neurons, astroglia and oligodendrocytes in specified differentiation media. Using easily accessible human peripheral blood samples, this method could be used to derive neural stem cells for further differentiation to neural cells for in vitro modeling of neurological disorders and may advance studies related to the pathogenesis and treatment of those diseases.

A method was developed to directly derive human neural stem cells from hematopoietic progenitor cells enriched from peripheral blood cells.

Human disease specific neuronal cultures are essential for generating in vitro models for human neurological diseases. However, the lack of access to ...

Feeder-free Derivation of Melanocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) represent a platform to study human development in vitro under both normal and disease conditions. Researchers can direct the differentiation of hPSCs into the cell type of interest by manipulating the culture conditions to recapitulate signals seen during development. One such cell type is the melanocyte, a pigment-producing cell of neural crest (NC) origin responsible for protecting the skin against UV irradiation. This protocol presents an extension of a currently available in vitro Neural Crest differentiation protocol from hPSCs to further differentiate NC into fully pigmented melanocytes. Melanocyte precursors can be enriched from the Neural Crest protocol via a timed exposure to activators of WNT, BMP, and EDN3 signaling under dual-SMAD-inhibition conditions. The resultant melanocyte precursors are then purified and matured into fully pigmented melanocytes by culture in a selective medium. The resultant melanocytes are fully pigmented and stain appropriately for proteins characteristic of mature melanocytes.

This work describes an in vitro differentiation protocol to produce pigmented, mature melanocytes from human pluripotent stem cells via a neural crest and melanoblast intermediate stage using a feeder-free, 25 day protocol.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) represent a platform to study human development in vitro under both normal and disease conditions. Researchers can ...

Epigenetic Regulation of Cardiac Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells and Tissues

Specific gene transcription is a key biological process that underlies cell fate decision during embryonic development. The biological process is mediated by transcription factors which bind genomic regulatory regions including enhancers and promoters of cardiac constitutive genes. DNA is wrapped around histones that are subjected to chemical modifications. Modifications of histones further lead to repressed, activated or poised gene transcription, thus bringing another level of fine tuning regulation of gene transcription. Embryonic Stem cells (ES cells) recapitulate within embryoid bodies (i.e., cell aggregates) or in 2D culture the early steps of cardiac development. They provide in principle enough material for chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), a technology broadly used to identify gene regulatory regions. Furthermore, human ES cells represent a human cell model of cardiogenesis. At later stages of development, mouse embryonic tissues allow for investigating specific epigenetic landscapes required for determination of cell identity. Herein, we describe protocols of ChIP, sequential ChIP followed by PCR or ChIP-sequencing using ES cells, embryoid bodies and cardiac specific embryonic regions. These protocols allow to investigating the epigenetic regulation of cardiac gene transcription.

A fine tuning regulation of gene transcription underlies embryonic cell fate decision. Herein, we describe chromatin immunoprecipitation assays used to investigate epigenetic regulation of both cardiac differentiation of stem cells and cardiac development of mouse embryos.

Specific gene transcription is a key biological process that underlies cell fate decision during embryonic development. The biological process is mediated ...

Horizontal Whole Mount: A Novel Processing and Imaging Protocol for Thick, Three-dimensional Tissue Cross-sections of Skin

Processing a tissue of interest to generate a microscopic image that supports a scientific argument can be challenging. The acquisition of high-quality microscopic images is not entirely dependent upon the quality of the microscope, but also upon the methods of tissue processing, which often involve multiple critical actions or steps. Furthermore, mesenchymal cell types in the skin and other tissues represent a new challenge for tissue preparation and imaging. Here, we present a complete process, from tissue harvest to microscopy. Our technique, called &#34;horizontal whole mount,&#34; is one that novices can quickly become proficient in and that allows for antigen preservation and detection in 60-300 &#181;m-thick sections cut with a cryostat. Sections of this thickness provide enhanced visualization of tissue microarchitecture in a three-dimensional environment. In addition, the protocol preserves mesenchymal cells in a manner that enhances image quality when compared to standard cryostat or paraffin sections, thereby increasing the efficacy and reliability of immunostaining. We believe that this protocol will benefit all laboratories that visualize skin, and possibly other tissues and organs.

This work presents a novel processing and imaging protocol for thick, three-dimensional tissue cross-section analysis that enables the full exploitation of confocal imaging modalities. This protocol preserves antigenicity and represents a robust system to analyze skin histology and potentially other tissue types.

Processing a tissue of interest to generate a microscopic image that supports a scientific argument can be challenging. The acquisition of high-quality ...

Rapid, Directed Differentiation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells from Human Embryonic or Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

We describe a robust method to direct the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). The purpose of providing a detailed and thorough protocol is to clearly demonstrate each step and to make this readily available to researchers in the field. This protocol results in a homogenous layer of RPE with minimal or no manual dissection needed. The method presented here has been shown to be effective for induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and human embryonic stem cells. Additionally, we describe methods for cryopreservation of intermediate cell banks that allow long-term storage. RPE generated using this protocol might be useful for iPSC disease-in-a-dish modeling or clinical application.

This protocol describes how to produce retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE) from pluripotent stem cells. The method uses a combination of growth factors and small molecules to direct the differentiation of stem cells into immature RPE in fourteen days and mature, functional RPE after three months.

We describe a robust method to direct the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). The purpose of providing ...

Single-cell Photoconversion in Living Intact Zebrafish

Animal and plant tissue is composed of distinct populations of cells. These cells interact over time to build and maintain the tissue and can cause disease when disrupted. Scientists have developed clever techniques to investigate characteristics and natural dynamics of these cells within intact tissue by expressing fluorescent proteins in subsets of cells. However, at times, experiments require more selected visualization of cells within the tissue, sometimes at the single-cell or population-of-cells manner. To achieve this and visualize single cells within a population of cells, scientists have utilized single-cell photoconversion of fluorescent proteins. To demonstrate this technique, we show here how to direct UV light to an Eos-expressing cell of interest in an intact, living zebrafish. We then image those photoconverted Eos+ cells 24 h later to determine how they changed in the tissue. We describe two techniques: single cell photoconversion and photoconversions of populations of cell. These techniques can be used to visualize cell-cell interactions, cell-fate and differentiation, and cell migrations, making it a technique that is applicable in numerous biological questions.

Here, we present a protocol to show how cell photoconversion is achieved through UV exposure to specific areas expressing the fluorescent protein, Eos, in living animals.

Animal and plant tissue is composed of distinct populations of cells. These cells interact over time to build and maintain the tissue and can cause ...

Computational Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline to Study the Distribution of Nuclei, Proteins, and the Cytoskeleton

The Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) germline is used to study several biologically important processes including stem cell development, apoptosis, and chromosome dynamics. While the germline is an excellent model, the analysis is often two dimensional due to the time and labor required for three-dimensional analysis. Major readouts in such studies are the number/position of nuclei and protein distribution within the germline. Here, we present a method to perform automated analysis of the germline using confocal microscopy and computational approaches to determine the number and position of nuclei in each region of the germline. Our method also analyzes germline protein distribution that enables the three-dimensional examination of protein expression in different genetic backgrounds. Further, our study shows variations in cytoskeletal architecture in distinct regions of the germline that may accommodate specific spatial developmental requirements. Finally, our method enables automated counting of the sperm in the spermatheca of each germline. Taken together, our method enables rapid and reproducible phenotypic analysis of the C. elegans germline.

Computational Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline to Study the Distribution of Nuclei, Proteins, and the Cytoskeleton

We present an automated method for three-dimensional reconstruction of the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. Our method determines the number and position of each nucleus within the germline and analyses germline protein distribution and cytoskeletal structure.

The Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) germline is used to study several biologically important processes including stem cell development, apoptosis, and ...

Derivation and Differentiation of Canine Ovarian Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Interest in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has increased over the past decade due to their ease of isolation, expansion, and culture. Recently, studies have demonstrated the wide differentiation capacity that these cells possess. The ovary represents a promising candidate for cell-based therapies due to the fact that it is rich in MSCs and that it is frequently discarded after ovariectomy surgeries as biological waste. This article describes procedures for the isolation, expansion, and differentiation of MSCs derived from the canine ovary, without the necessity of cell-sorting techniques. This protocol represents an important tool for regenerative medicine because of the broad applicability of these highly differentiable cells in clinical trials and therapeutic uses.

Herein, we describe a method for the isolation, expansion, and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells from canine ovarian tissue.

Interest in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has increased over the past decade due to their ease of isolation, expansion, and culture. Recently, studies ...

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 ...