Derivation of factor-free human induced pluripotent stem cells by Cre protein transduction and their differentiation towards cardiogenic fates

Abstract

Aim of the present study was to obtain suitable human iPS cells free of reprogramming factors utilizing Cre excisable viral vectors. Further we checked enhancement of the quality of transgene excised iPS cells in terms of pluripotency as well as differentiation potential. The second objective of the study was the establishment of robust protocol to obtain cardiomyocytes from multiple human iPS lines. It was achieved with precise modulation of key signaling pathways as well as enrichment of cardiomyocytes based on their metabolic requirement to enhance the purity of obtained cells. Our next goal was to perform detailed characterization of obtained cardiomyocytes in order to validate their functional properties. Overall we intend to provide the robust basis for scale up production of human cardiomyocytes suitable for drug toxicity, disease modeling and cellular therapy.