Human raphe nuclei organoids or spheroids (hRNS) are generated in vitro, which may be generated at least in part from human pluripotent stem (hPS) cells. Such spheroids model the human raphe nuclei and comprise specific sets of cells, e.g. serotonergic neurons, that are associated with the raphe nuclei of a human, and can be assembled with cortical spheroids (hCS) to generate functional human neuromodulatory circuits.

The present invention relates to a hair growth-inducing ability enhancing effect of adipose stem cells obtained by performing treatment with udenafil and performing culture, and provides a composition for preventing or treating alopecia, or promoting hair growth, comprising, as an active ingredient, adipose stem cells obtained by performing treatment with udenafil and performing culture, IL-4, or IL-12B. In a case where a culture medium of adipose stem cells is treated with udenafil and cultured, IL-4 and IL-12B expression levels are increased in the adipose stem cells, and thus maturation of hair follicle cells is further promoted, so that hair growth can be induced. In addition, in a case where IL-4 and IL-12B, which are expressed in the adipose stem cells obtained by performing treatment with udenafil and performing culture, are applied to skin tissue, hair growth can be induced.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing an intestinal epithelial cell, which has a large number of cells per area and a high accuracy of kinetic prediction for a CYP3A4 substrate drug such as midazolam, by inducing the differentiation of a pluripotent stem cell, as well as the intestinal epithelial cell, a cell sheet, an evaluation method for a test substance, a screening kit for a test substance, and a cell preparation. According to the present invention, there is provided a production method for an intestinal epithelial cell, including a first differentiation step of differentiating a pluripotent stem cell into an intestinal stem cell, a proliferation step of proliferating the intestinal stem cell obtained in the differentiation step, and a second differentiation step of differentiating the intestinal stem cell obtained in the proliferation step into an intestinal epithelial cell, in which the proliferation step is a step of bringing the intestinal stem cell into a specific state.

The present invention provides a method for preparing induced pluripotent stem cells through somatic cell reprogramming and induced pluripotent stem cells obtained therefrom. The present method comprises introducing the factors Oct4 and Nanog as reprogramming-inducing factors into somatic cells to perform reprogramming; followed by culturing the partially or fully reprogrammed somatic cells in a medium comprising specific chemical inducing agents to obtain induced pluripotent stem cells. In the present invention, the combination of different forms of reprogramming-inducing factors and three small-molecule compounds as chemical inducing agents can significantly improve the reprogramming efficiency of human somatic cells and reduce the tumorigenicity of the obtained induced pluripotent stem cells.

Objects to be achieved are to provide a nerve cell with which it is possible to visualize and quantify the intracellular tau without using the exogenous promoter and to provide a pluripotent stem cell with which the nerve cell can be produced, to provide a method of screening a substance, including using the pluripotent stem cell or nerve cell described above, and a substance screened by the above method, and to provide a kit including a targeting vector and a gRNA.

There is provided a pluripotent stem cell including a DNA encoding a reporter molecule, the DNA being introduced adjacent to an endogenous tau gene such that a tau protein is expressed as a fusion protein fused with a reporter molecule.

This disclosure relates to methods for expanding inner ear supporting cells (e.g., Lgr5+ inner ear supporting cells) and differentiating inner ear supporting cells (e.g., Lgr5+ inner ear supporting cells) to inner ear hair cells (e.g., atonal homolog 1 (Atoh1)+ inner ear hair cells) and the use of the inner hear supporting cells and hair cells, e.g., for identifying candidate therapeutic compounds for the treatment of hearing loss and balance loss. Additionally, the methods described herein can be used in the treatment of a subject having hearing loss and balance loss that would benefit from increased proliferation and differentiation of inner ear supporting cells (e.g., Lgr5+ inner ear supporting cells).

Vascularizing cell aggregates or tissue segments in a microfluidic device by filling a chamber within the device with a matrix that allows for endothelial sprouting; creating at least three voids within the matrix, of which at least two outer voids are lumenally connected to separate perfusion paths within the device and at least one additional void is positioned in between the at least two outer voids; endothelializing the at least two outer voids; introducing at least one cell type, matrix material, tissue segment, or combinations thereof into the void between the two outer voids; and using vascular growth factors to induce the endothelial cells to sprout into the matrix until the at least three voids are interconnected by endothelial sprouts.

A population of enteroendocrine cells (EEC) is obtained from a mammalian post-natal cell population, such as a population including post-natal stem cells, by treating the population with a plurality of small molecules that upregulate ChgA and promote differentiation of the cells to form the enteroendocrine cells. The upregulation of ChgA is such that the fraction of cells expressing CGA in the obtained cell population, as measured by a ChgA Immunostaining Assay, is at least about 1.5%. Small molecules that can be used to differentiate the post-natal cells into the enteroendocrine cells can include at least one of a Wnt activator, a Notch inhibitor, a Wnt inhibitor, a MEK/ERK inhibitor, a growth factor, a HDAC inhibitor, a Histone Methylation Inhibitor, a Tgf-β inhibitor, and a NeuroD1 activator. Also, the insulin expression of a population of mammalian cells is increased by treating the population with a plurality of small molecules that increase the insulin expression.

The invention relates to a method for obtaining endothelial cells from human pluripotent stem cells.

A method for inducing differentiated cells into mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and combinations of regulatory targets thereof. The method includes performing a directional induction on the differentiated cells to prepare the mesenchymal stem cells. The directional induction includes treating cells by inhibiting the TGF-β signal pathway, inhibiting the activity of PKC, activating the WNT/β-catenin signal pathway and activating the cAMP signal pathway. By regulating corresponding signal pathways and/or enzymatic activities by stages, the differentiated cells are induced into the mesenchymal stem cells.