Induction of tendon/ligament progenitor cells from human iPSCs

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15664
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Orthopaedic surgery
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: ALEV CANTAS 京都大学, iPS細胞研究所, 特定拠点助教 (30726477)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 池谷 真 京都大学, iPS細胞研究所, 准教授 (20442923)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): WOLTJEN Knut 京都大学, iPS細胞研究所, 准教授 (50589489) ; TOGUCHIDA Junya 京都大学, ウイルス・再生医科学研究所, 教授 (40273502) ; SHENG Guo jun 熊本大学, 国際先端医学研究機構, 教授 (20399439)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: Tendon Progenitor Cell / iPSCs / Mesoderm Differentiation

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We succeeded to establish a step-wise in vitro induction protocol of human tendon/ligament progenitor cells (TLPCs) from iPSCs. To this end we aimed to mimic the emergence of TLPCs during embryonic development. We utilised a step-wise chemically defined feeder-free iPSC-based induction protocol of human pre-somitic and somitic mesoderm from iPSCs, followed by the in vitro induction of human syndetome cells expressing the TLPC-specific transcription factors scleraxis (SCX) and mohawk (MKX). In addition TLPCs with enthesis-like features could be also derived. These in vitro induced human tendon/ligament progenitor cells have the potential to be used for disease modelling and cellular replacement therapy.

Free Research Field

Stem Cell Biology, Developmental Biology