Rapid and Highly Efficient Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

by Athanasia D. Panopoulos, Sergio Ruiz, Fei Yi, Aída Herrerías, Erika M. Batchelder, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte

The ability to induce somatic cells to pluripotency by ectopic expression of
defined transcription factors (e.g. KLF-4,
OCT4, SOX2, c-MYC, or
KOSM) has transformed the future of regenerative medicine. Here we report
somatic cell reprogramming of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs),
yielding induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells with the fastest kinetics, and one
of the highest reprogramming efficiencies for a human somatic cell to date.
HUVEC-derived iPS (Huv-iPS) cell colonies appeared as early as 6 days after a
single KOSM infection, and were generated with a 2.5–3%
reprogramming efficiency. Furthermore, when HUVEC reprogramming was performed
under hypoxic conditions in the presence of a TGF-beta family signaling
inhibitor, colony formation increased an additional ∼2.5-fold over standard
conditions. Huv-iPS cells were indistinguishable from human embryonic stem (ES)
cells with regards to morphology, pluripotent marker expression, and their
ability to generate all embryonic germ layers in vitro and
in vivo. The high efficiency and rapid kinetics of Huv-iPS
cell formation, coupled with the ease by which HUVECs can be collected, expanded
and stored, make these cells an attractive somatic source for therapeutic
application, and for studying the reprogramming process.

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Rapid and Highly Efficient Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem
Cells from Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells
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