Induction and Isolation of Vascular Cells From Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells—Brief Report

• Published in: Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology Vol. 29; no. 7; pp. 1100 - 1103
• Main Authors: Taura, Daisuke, Sone, Masakatsu, Homma, Koichiro, Oyamada, Naofumi, Takahashi, Kazutoshi, Tamura, Naohisa, Yamanaka, Shinya, Nakao, Kazuwa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA American Heart Association, Inc 01.07.2009; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
• Subjects: Atherosclerosis (general aspects, experimental research); Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Blood vessels and receptors; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cell Differentiation; Cell Line; Diseases of the peripheral vessels. Diseases of the vena cava. Miscellaneous; Embryonic Stem Cells - cytology; Endothelial Cells - cytology; Flow Cytometry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Medical sciences; Pluripotent Stem Cells - cytology; Vertebrates: cardiovascular system; Vascular disease; Human; Angiogenesis; stem cells; differentiation; Stem cell; Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular disease; vascular biology; Endothelium
• ISSN: 1079-5642; 1524-4636
• DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.108.182162

OBJECTIVE—Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are a novel stem cell population derived from human adult somatic cells through reprogramming using a defined set of transcription factors. Our aim was to determine the features of the directed differentiation of human iPS cells into vascular endothelial cells (ECs) and mural cells (MCs), and to compare that process with human embryonic stem (hES) cells. METHODS AND RESULTS—We previously established a system for differentiating hES cells into vascular cells. We applied this system to human iPS cells and examined their directed differentiation. After differentiation, TRA1–60 Flk1 cells emerged and divided into VE-cadherin–positive and –negative populations. The former were also positive for CD34, CD31, and eNOS and were consistent with ECs. The latter differentiated into MCs, which expressed smooth muscle α-actin and calponin after further differentiation. The efficiency of the differentiation was comparable to that of human ES cells. CONCLUSIONS—We succeeded in inducing and isolating human vascular cells from iPS cells and indicate that the properties of human iPS cell differentiation into vascular cells are nearly identical to those of hES cells. This work will contribute to our understanding of human vascular differentiation/development and to the development of vascular regenerative medicine.