In certain embodiments, the present invention provides methods to prepare insulin secreting cells from a skin sample from a mammal.

Methods are provided for the production of photoreceptor cells and photoreceptor progenitor cells from pluripotent stem cells. Additionally provided are compositions of photoreceptor cells and photoreceptor cells, as well as methods for the therapeutic use thereof. Exemplary methods may produce substantially pure cultures of photoreceptor cells and/or photoreceptor cells.

Disclosed herein are cell cultures comprising dorsal and/or ventral PDX1-positive foregut endoderm cells and methods of producing the same. Also disclosed herein are cell populations comprising substantially purified dorsal and/or ventral PDX1-positive foregut endoderm cells as well as methods for enriching, isolating and purifying dorsal and/or ventral PDX1-positive foregut endoderm cells from other cell types. Methods of identifying differentiation factors capable of promoting the differentiation of dorsal and/or ventral PDX1-positive foregut endoderm cells, are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a population of cells with an increased proportion of left ventricular cardiomyocytes, and uses thereof, for example in treatment of disorders of the left ventricle and use in screening for drugs which may be used to treat disorders of the left ventricle.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing highly pure pancreatic progenitor cells by using pluripotent stem cells such as ES cells or iPS cells as a source, inducing their differentiation into pancreatic progenitor cells, and culturing and proliferating the pancreatic progenitor cells. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for proliferation of pancreatic progenitor cells, comprising the step of culturing the pancreatic progenitor cells in a medium containing (i) an EGF signal transduction activator and/or an FGF signal transduction activator and (ii) a ROCK inhibitor.

The present invention provides methods to promote the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells. In particular, the present invention provides an improved method for the formation of pancreatic endoderm, pancreatic hormone expressing cells and pancreatic hormone secreting cells. The present invention also provides methods to promote the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells without the use of a feeder cell layer.

The present invention relates to methods for making in vitro retinal cultures, tissue, or retinal organoids, from pluripotent cells as well as the improved synthetic retinal tissue and retinal organoids themselves. It also relates to retinal organoids that replicate in vitro many characteristics of the retina (e.g., human or mammalian), and methods of using this retinal organoid to study disease and to identify therapeutic agents for the treatment of retinal diseases and disorders.

Methods for differentiating pluripotent stem cells to neuroectoderm in dynamic suspension culture using small molecule or protein inhibitors of TGFβ/Activin/Nodal signaling and BMP signaling are provided. Also provided are methot and protocols for differentiating pluripotent stem cells such as human embryonic stem cells first to neuroectoderm, then further to glial progenitor cells, and further to oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), and compositions obtained thereby. The methods of the present disclosure reproducibly produce neuroectoderm progenitor cells by day 7 of the differentiation process, glial progenitor cells by day 21 of the differentiation process and OPCs by day 42 of the differentiation process.

The present invention relates to the generation of anterior definitive endoderm (ADE) cells from embryonic stem cells and the differentiation of such cells to, for example, pancreatic or liver cells. The invention also relates to cell lines, cell culture methods, cell markers and the like and their potential uses in a variety of applications.

The present invention relates to the discovery of a role of the nuclear receptor retinoid-related orphan receptor gamma (RORgamma) in tumor suppression. The introduction and expression of RORgamma result in genes activation within innate immune cells that trigger recognition and suppression of tumor cells. Thus, in various embodiments described herein, the invention encompasses a composition or a cell comprising a viral vector comprising nucleic acid sequences encoding RORgamma under the control of a neutrophil specific promoter. Additionally, the invention relates to methods of treating cancer by administering to a subject a composition that confers or increases innate immune cell anti-tumor immunity, methods for providing anti-tumor immunity in a subject, methods of stimulating innate immune response to a cell population or a tissue in a mammal and methods of diagnosing anti-tumor immunity response. Furthermore, the invention encompasses a kit for carrying out the aforementioned methods.