Human induced pluripotent stem cells derived under feeder-free conditions display unique cell cycle and DNA replication gene profiles.

ABSTRACT: Use of animal feeder layers and serum containing media in the derivation and propagation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can hinder clinical translation, because of the presence of xeno-material/pathogens. A defined and standardized system would be ideal for generating a homogenous population of iPSCs, which closely resembles human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). This article presents a novel and extensive comparison between in-house produced iPSCs and hESCs under "feeder" and "feeder-free" conditions, using transcriptomic genome-wide microarray analysis. We generated a list of pluripotency-associated and bivalent domain-containing genes by meta-analysis to measure qualitatively the degree of reprogramming in feeder-free derived iPSCs, in which both profiles displayed similar levels of gene expression as in hESCs. Gene ontology analysis showed that feeder-free iPSCs have enriched terms belonging to DNA repair/replication and cell cycle, which are signature to pluripotent cells. Transcriptomic data combined with directed differentiation assays, indicated that variability among iPSC lines is minimized when using a feeder-free cultural system, which may serve as a platform for further developing regenerative medicine compliant human iPSCs.

SUBMITTER: Chung HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3258437 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature