Provided is a method for inducing pancreatic hormone-producing cells from pancreatic progenitor cells efficiently. The method comprises a step of culturing the cells in a culture medium comprising sodium cromoglicate.

The subject matter of the invention is a functional population of human brown adipocytes, in which the expression of UCP1, CIDEA, CPT1B and Bc12 is higher, the expression of Bax is lower and the expression of PPAR-alpha, PGC-1alpha, PGC-1 beta and PRDM16 is similar compared with the corresponding expressions of a population of human white adipocytes. The invention also relates to a method for differentiation of hMADS cells into the functional population of human brown adipocytes, to a method for conversion of a population of human white adipocytes into the functional population of human brown adipocytes, and also to a method of screening for molecules capable of modulating the bodyweight in an individual.

This invention provides a system for efficiently producing differentiated cells from pluripotent cells, such as human embryonic stem cells. Rather than permitting the cells to form embryoid bodies according to established techniques, differentiation is effected directly in monolayer culture on a suitable solid surface. The cells are either plated directly onto a differentiation-promoting surface, or grown initially on the solid surface in the absence of feeder cells and then exchanged into a medium that assists in the differentiation process. The solid surface and the culture medium can be chosen to direct differentiation down a particular pathway, generating a cell population that is remarkably uniform. The methodology is well adapted to bulk production of committed precursor and terminally differentiated cells for use in drug screening or regenerative medicine.

The present invention is directed to therapeutic multifunctional immature dental pulp stem cells (IDPSCs), and IDPSCs multi-lineage compositions. The invention is further directed to the use of IDPSCs and compositions to reduce the risk of and/or treat degenerative diseases or for other medicinal and aesthetic purposes.

A method for treating an oral condition of a subject by grafting cultured tissue constructs to the oral tissue. The cultured tissue constructs comprise cultured cells and endogenously produced extracellular matrix components without the requirement of exogenous matrix components or network support or scaffold members. Some tissue constructs of the invention are comprised of multiple cell layers or more than one cell type. The tissue constructs of the invention have morphological features and functions similar to tissues their cells are derived and their strength makes them easily handleable. Preferred cultured tissue constructs of the invention comprise cells derived from human tissue.

A method of generating a population of cells useful for treating a brain disorder in a subject is disclosed. The method comprises contacting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with at least one exogenous miRNA having a nucleic acid sequence at least 90% identical to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 15-19 and 27-35, thereby generating the population of cells and/or generating neurotrophic factors that may provide important signals to damaged tissues or locally residing stem cells. MSCs differentiated by miRs may also secrete miRs and deliver them to adjacent cells and therefore provide important signals to neighboring endogenous normal or malignant cells.

To provide a method for serum-free culture of human cartilage cells and a serum-free culture medium. A method for serum-free culture of cartilage cells, said method comprising: an enzymatic treatment step for treating a human cartilage cell-containing tissue with a protease; an inhibitor-treatment step for, after the enzymatic treatment step, treating the tissue with an inhibitor for the aforesaid protease; and a culture step for, after the inhibitor-treatment step, culturing the tissue in a serum-free culture medium that contains kartogenin and/or SAG, ITS, FGF2 and hydrocortisone. A serum-free culture medium for culturing cartilage cells, said serum-free culture medium containing kartogenin and/or SAG, ITS, FGF2 and hydrocortisone.

The present invention relates to expandable liver organoids, a medium composition for differentiation thereof, and a method for producing liver organoids using the same, and the liver organoids according to the present invention exhibit the characteristics of more mature hepatocytes than 2D differentiated hepatocytes, can be subcultured up to 90 times or more, and exhibit the expandability for maintaining the characteristics of mature hepatocytes even after multiple subcultures, and thus can be usefully utilized for predicting toxicity, regeneration, and inflammatory response, drug screening, and modeling of diseases such as hepatic steatosis.

The present invention describes an efficient and rapid protocol to generate hepatocyte cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). According to the method, the iPS cells can be differentiated into functional hepatocyte cells in a short time course (less than 15-20 days). The iPSC-derived hepatocyte cells of the invention have a similar gene expression profile to mature hepatocytes. Moreover, the iPSC-derived hepatocyte cells is proved to rescue lethal fulminant hepatic failure in a non-obese diabetic severe combined immunodeficient mouse model. The rapid and efficient differentiation protocol for generation of iPSC-derived hepatocyte cells may offer an alternative option for treatment of liver diseases.

The present invention relates to a serum-free conditioned medium that solves the drawbacks mentioned in the prior art, as it does not require prior handling of the cells, and it furthermore allows starting from a large population with no additional cost. This medium favors in vitro proliferation and conservation of the pluripotency potential that allows maintaining a state that is undifferentiated with respect to the subpopulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and in turn does not allow survival of the differentiated cells.