The present invention describes in vitro methods for producing a cellular composition with in vivo bone forming potential.

The present disclosure provides an iPSC cell derived from a somatic cell comprising a Cbx family gene and the applications thereof Also provided are methods for generating the somatic cells that have potential to become induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (iPS cells) without oncogenic properties, and methods for generating iPS cells from the population of cells, which may then be used for transplantation and for cellular differentiation and interaction.

The invention provides in certain embodiments, a method of generating a re-programmed differentiated epithelial cell comprising (a) contacting a non-stem somatic cell obtained from a subject with an effective amount of a de-differentiation agent to form a de-differentiated cell, and (b) transfecting the de-differentiated cell with an expression cassette comprising a promoter operably linked to a nucleic acid encoding a conversion agent to form a re-programmed differentiated cell. The invention also provides in certain embodiments, a method of generating a re-programmed differentiated epithelial cell comprising (a) contacting a non-stem somatic cell obtained from a subject with an effective amount of a de-differentiation agent to form a de-differentiated cell, and (b) contacting the de-differentiated cell with a conversion agent to form a re-programmed differentiated cell. The invention provides in certain embodiments, re-programmed differentiated epithelial cells, and methods of using these re-programmed differentiated epithelial cells to repair or re-generate tissue in vivo.

Presented herein are personalized compositions comprising iPSCs and/or iPSC-derived cells (cells) and methods of producing personalized compositions suitable for various therapies, including chondrogenesis therapies, to be administered to an individual or a group of individuals. The cells and/or cell lines, and any compositions derived therefrom, are identified as compatible with a specific individual or specific group of individuals using an identification of a cell type indicative of compatibility such as an HLA match. The compatible cells are then used to derive personalized compositions, wherein the personalized compositions comprise one or more cell-secreted molecules suitable for therapy. It is found herein that a composition comprising one or more iPSC-derived MSCs, iPSC-derived chondrocytes, and iPSC-derived chondrons may provide improved treatment efficacy than would be offered by bone marrow-MSCs (BM-MSCs) or compositions comprising BM-MSCs.

Disclosed herein is a culture system for chemical induction of pluripotent stem cells, comprising a basic culture medium and a composition for performing chemical induction of reprogramming process. The said composition comprises a thymine analogue, a cAMP activator, a TGF- receptor inhibitor, a bone morphogenetic protein, a RA receptor activator, a GSK3 inhibitor and a basic fibroblast growth factor. And the said culture system is free of serum. By using the culture system as described herein, there is no need to frequently replate cells during culture, such that culturing process is simplified and loss of cells resulting from replating cells is reduced. As the culture system is free of serum, subsequent collection of pluripotent stem cells and molecular mechanism analysis are simplified, thereby facilitating establishment of no animal origin culture systems for induction of pluripotent stem cells.

The present disclosure relates to a novel musculoskeletal stem cell (MSSC) differentiated from an ESC (embryonic stem cell) or an iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell). The musculoskeletal stem cell of the present disclosure can be easily induced from a human embryonic stem cell or a human-derived pluripotent stem cell and can be effectively differentiated not only into bone but also into cartilage, tendon and muscle. Accordingly, it can be usefully used for prevention or treatment of various musculoskeletal diseases.

This invention provides a method for preparing a brown adipocyte from a somatic cell of a mammal by introducing at least one brown adipocyte-related gene or expression product thereof and at least one reprogramming-related gene or expression product thereof into the somatic cell, the brown adipocyte-related gene being at least one member selected from the group consisting of PRDM16(P) and C/EBP(C), the reprogramming-related gene being at least one member selected from the group consisting of Myc family genes (c-Myc(M), N-Myc, L-Myc(L), S-Myc, and B-Myc), GLIS family genes (GLIS1 (G), GLIS 2, and GLIS 3), Klf family genes (KLF1, KLF2, KLF3, KLF4(K), KLF5, KLF6, KLF7, KLF8, KLF9, KLF10, KLF11, KLF12, KLF13, KLF14, KLF15, KLF16, and KLF17), Oct family genes, Sox family genes, and Lin-28.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) progenitor cells and methods for identifying BAT progenitor cells in a population of cells are provided. Methods are also provided for inducing differentiation of BAT progenitor cells into differentiated brown adipocytes, inducing expression or increased activity levels of BAT uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1), and for identifying agents capable of inducing differentiation of BAT progenitor cells into brown adipocytes and/or inducing expression or increased activity levels of UCP1. Differentiated brown adipocytes and agents and methods for inducing differentiation of BAT progenitor cells can be used for treatment of or the making of medicaments for the treatment of metabolic diseases or conditions in a patient such as obesity, overweight, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin-resistance, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, and the like. Differentiated brown adipocytes and agents and methods for inducing differentiation of BAT progenitor cells can be used for prevention of hypothermia.

Embodiments of the methods and compositions provided herein relate to inducing hair growth in a subject. Some embodiments include screening for agents to modulate hair growth.

The present invention relates to a method of treating a subject having drug-resistant cancer, comprising administering a composition comprising exosomes derived from differentiating stem cells as an active ingredient. The exosomes isolated differentiating stem cells according to the present invention have an excellent expression rate of bioactive factors affecting differentiation and have an effect of facilitating reprogramming of cancer stem cells and differentiating them into cancer cells with weakened drug resistance.