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    Maintenance of undifferentiated state of human embryonic stem cells in chemical defined medium at high clone density without exogenous cell factors.
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    Abstract:
    To establish human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) feeder-independent and cell factor-free culture system.Effect of high and low clone densities of hESCs culture was compared and impact of the clone densities to hESCs culture media was analyzed.HESCs could maintain their undifferentiated states at high clone density (34 clones/cm²) without cell factors. At the same time, the bone morphology protein (BMP)-like induction of N2 and B27 supplements (NB) medium could be modulated by the clone density, and high level of BMP-like induction was accompanied by high clone density.High clone density of hESCs can change the environments by themselves to maintain the undifferentiated states, which provides a new clue to explore the mechanism of undifferentiated states of hESCs and simplify the culture medium.
    Keywords:
    clone (Java method)
    Summary Stem cells are an immortal cell population capable of self-renewal; they are essential for human development and ageing and are a major focus of research in regenerative medicine. Despite considerable progress in differentiation of stem cells in vitro , culture conditions require further optimization to maximize the potential for multicellular differentiation during expansion. The aim of this study was to develop a feeder-free, serum-free culture method for human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), to establish optimal conditions for hESC proliferation, and to determine the biological characteristics of the resulting hESCs. The H9 hESC line was cultured using a homemade serum-free, feeder-free culture system, and growth was observed. The expression of pluripotency proteins (OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, LIN28, SSEA-3, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60, and TRA-1-81) in hESCs was determined by immunofluorescence and western blotting. The mRNA expression levels of genes encoding nestin, brachyury and α-fetoprotein in differentiated H9 cells were determined by RT-PCR. The newly developed culture system resulted in classical hESC colonies that were round or elliptical in shape, with clear and neat boundaries. The expression of pluripotency proteins was increased, and the genes encoding nestin, brachyury, and α-fetoprotein were expressed in H9 cells, suggesting that the cells maintained in vitro differentiation capacity. Our culture system containing a unique set of components, with animal-derived substances, maintained the self-renewal potential and pluripotency of H9 cells for eight passages. Further optimization of this system may expand the clinical application of hESCs.
    Homeobox protein NANOG
    Brachyury
    Rex1
    KOSR
    Regenerative Medicine
    Nestin
    Citations (5)
    In order for human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to be cultured on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEFs) feeder cells, continuous basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) supplementation is required. However, the role of bFGF in a culture system using human-derived feeder cells has not been evaluated until now. In this study, we propagated the widely used hESC lines, H1 and HSF6, on human placenta-derived feeder cells (HPCs) without exogenous bFGF supplementation, and were able to propagate hESCs on HPC feeders up to 50 passages. The absence of bFGF in culture media did not interrupt the undifferentiated propagation and the expression of pluripotent stem cell markers ALP, SSEA-4, TRA-60, Oct-4, Nanog, and Rex-1, as well as the formation of embryoid bodies (EBs) and their differentiation potential. In contrast, hESCs cocultured with MEF feeders could not propagate and form EBs without exogenous bFGF supplementation. Expression of bFGF and the activation of the ERK1/2-c-Fos/c-Jun pathway, which is known as the signaling pathway of bFGF, were identifiable not only in hESCs cultured in bFGF-containing media regardless of feeder cell type, but also in hESCs cocultured with HPC feeder cells in media without bFGF. These findings may support the hypothesis that HPC feeder cells enhance endogenous bFGF production and activation of the ERK1/2-c-Fos/c-Jun pathway, which suggests that HPCs have an additional advantage in their hESC propagation compared with MEF.
    Embryoid body
    Homeobox protein NANOG
    KOSR
    Citations (26)
    Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines are commonly maintained on inactivated feeder cells, in the medium supplemented with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). However, limited availability of feeder cells in culture, and the high cost of growth factors limit their use in scalable expansion of hESC cultures for clinical application. Here, we describe an efficient and cost-effective feeder and bFGF-free culture of hESCs using conditioned medium (CM) from immortalized feeder cells.KIND-1 hESC cell line was cultured in CM, collected from primary mouse embryonic fibroblast, human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) and immortalized HFF (I-HFF). Pluripotency of KIND-1 hESC cell line was confirmed by expression of genes, proteins and cell surface markers.In culture, these cells retained normal morphology, expressed all cell surface markers, could differentiate to embryoid bodies upon culture in vitro. Furthermore, I-HFF feeder cells without supplementation of bFGF released ample amount of endogenous bFGF to maintain stemness of hESC cells.The study results described the use of CM from immortalized feeder cells as a consistent source and an efficient, inexpensive feeder-free culture system for the maintenance of hESCs. Moreover, it was possible to maintain hESCs without exogenous supplementation of bFGF. Thus, the study could be extended to scalable expansion of hESC cultures for therapeutic purposes.
    Immortalised cell line
    Embryoid body
    KOSR
    Citations (7)
    Human pluripotent embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have great promise for research into human developmental biology, development of cell therapies for the treatment of diseases, toxicology, and drug discovery. Traditionally, undifferentiated hESCs are maintained on mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), which impede the clinical applications of hESCs. Here we have examined the long-term stability of the Japanese hESC line (KhES-1) in feeder-free culture. KhES-1 cells were cultured with MEF conditioned medium (CM) and different doses of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in six-well-plates of which the surface was coated with Matrigel. KhES-1 cells were maintained for at least 40 passages. In this culture system, the cells maintained stable proliferation rates and steadily expressed Oct-4, Nanog, and alkaline phosphatase. In addition, KhES-1 cells maintained without direct feeder contact formed embryonic bodies with expression of markers from the three germ layers. Here we demonstrated that Japanese human embryonic stem cells KhES-1 were cultured long term in a feeder-free method, while retaining pluripotency in vitro.
    Homeobox protein NANOG
    KOSR
    Matrigel
    Citations (20)
    Abstract Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines are traditionally derived and maintained on mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) which are xenogeneic and enter senescence rapidly. In view of the clinical implications of hESCs, the use of human fibroblast as feeders has been suggested as a plausible alternative. However, use of fibroblast cells from varying sources leads to culture variations along with the need to add FGF2 in cultures to sustain ES cell pluripotency. In this study we report the derivation of FGF2 expressing germ layer derived fibroblast cells (GLDF) from hESC lines. These feeders could support the pluripotency, karyotypes and proliferation of hESCs with or without FGF2 in prolonged cultures as efficiently as that on MEF. GLDF cells were derived from embryoid bodies and characterized for expression of fibroblast markers by RT‐PCR, Immunofluorescence and by flow cytometry for CD marker expression. The expression and secretion of FGF2 was confirmed by RT‐PCR, Western blot, and ELISA. The hESC lines cultured on MEF and GLDF were analyzed for various stemness markers. These feeder cells with fibroblast cells like properties maintained the properties of hESCs in prolonged culture over 30 passages. Proliferation and pluripotency of hESCs on GLDF was comparable to that on mouse feeders. Further we discovered that these GLDF cells could secrete FGF2 and maintained pluripotency of hESC cultures even in the absence of supplemental FGF2. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting a novel hESC culture system which does not warrant FGF2 supplementation, thereby reducing the cost of hESC cultures. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 75: 1523–1532 © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
    Embryoid body
    KOSR
    Citations (26)
    Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent cells which can give rise to almost all adult cell lineages. Culture system of hESCs is complex, requiring exogenous b-FGF and feeder cell layer. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) not only synthesize soluble cytokines or factors such as b-FGF, but also provide other mechanism which might play positive role on sustaining hESCs propagation and pluripotency. Human amniotic fluid stem (AFS) cells, which share characteristics of both embryonic and adult stem cells, have been regarded as promising cells for regenerative medicine. Taking advantage by AFS cells, we studied the ability of AFS cells in supporting undifferentiated propagation and pluripotency of Chinese population derived X-01 hESCs. Human AF-type amniotic fluid stem cells (hAF-AFSCs) transcribed genes including Activin A, TGF-β1, Noggin and b-FGF, which involved in maintaining pluripotency and self-renewal of hESCs. Compared to mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), hAF-AFSCs secreted higher concentration of b-FGF which was important in hESCs culture (P < 0.05). The hESCs were propagated more than 30 passages on hAF-AFSCs layer with exogenous b-FGF supplementation, keeping undifferentiated status. While exogenous b-FGF was obviated, propagation of hESCs with undifferentiated status was dependent on density of hAF-AFSC feeder layer. Lower density of hAF-AFSCs resulted in rapid decline in undifferentiated clone number, while higher ones hindered the growth of colonies. The most appropriate hAF-AFSCs feeder density to maintain the X-01 hESC line without exogenous b-FGF was 15-20×10(4)/well. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating that hAF-AFSCs could support undifferentiated propagation and pluripotency of Chinese population derived hESCs without exogenous b-FGF supplementation.
    Regenerative Medicine
    KOSR
    Citations (8)