Establishment of a human pluripotent stem cell-derived MKX-td Tomato reporter system

Yuki Fujisawa; Lu Ming; Daisuke Yamada; Tomoka Takao; Takeshi Takarada

doi:10.1186/s13287-022-03203-5

Establishment of a human pluripotent stem cell-derived MKX-td Tomato reporter system

Stem Cell Res Ther. 2022 Nov 12;13(1):515. doi: 10.1186/s13287-022-03203-5.

Authors

Yuki Fujisawa^#¹, Lu Ming^#¹, Daisuke Yamada¹, Tomoka Takao¹, Takeshi Takarada²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Regenerative Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
² Department of Regenerative Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. takarada@okayama-u.ac.jp.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Tendon regeneration is difficult because detailed knowledge about tendon progenitor cells (TPCs), which produce tenocytes to repair tendon tissue, has not been revealed. Mohawk homeobox (MKX) is a marker of TPCs or tenocytes, but a human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based reporter system that visualizes MKX⁺ cells has not been developed. Here, we established an hPSC-derived MKX-tdTomato reporter cell line and tested the induction ratio of MKX-tdTomato⁺ cells using our stepwise/xeno-free differentiation protocol. MKX-tdTomato⁺ cells were generated with high efficiency and expressed tendon-specific markers, including MKX, SCX, TNMD, and COL1A1. Our MKX-tdTomato hPSC line would be a useful tool for studying the development or regeneration of tendon tissue.

Keywords: Human pluripotent stem cells; Tendon; Tendon regeneration; Tenocytes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cell Differentiation
Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism
Humans
Pluripotent Stem Cells* / metabolism
Solanum lycopersicum* / metabolism
Tendons / metabolism

Substances

Homeodomain Proteins