This invention relates to the production of a population of haemogenic progenitor cells by (i) differentiating a population of induced pluri potent stem cells (IPSCs) into mesoderm cells and; (II) differentiating the mesoderm cells to produce a population of haemogenic progenitor cells. Steps (i) and (ii) are performed without purification or isolation of cells in the population. In addition, the haemogenic progenitor cells may be produced without the use of serum or stromal co-culture. Methods of the invention may be useful for example, in the production of clinical grade blood cells, such as T cells, for use in immunotherapy.

This invention relates to the production of a population of TCR αβ+ T cells by a method comprising (i) differentiating a population of haematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) into progenitor T cells and (ii) maturing the progenitor T cells to produce a population of TCR αβ+ T cells. One or both of steps (i) and (ii) are performed in the presence of Inducible Co-stimulator ligand (ICOS-L). The presence of ICOS-L in steps (i) and/or (ii) may increase expression of αβ T cell receptors and/or increase the proportion of HPCs or progenitor T cells that mature into TCR αβ+ cells. This may be useful for example in the production of T cells for immunotherapy.

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.

Disclosed are a method for preparing induced pluripotent stem cells from endocardium-derived adult stem cells isolated from peripheral blood and a method for differentiating induced pluripotent stem cells into cardiovascular cells. The endocardium-derived adult stem cells are primary culture cells for preparing induced pluripotent stem cells, can be readily isolated and cultured only with a small amount of peripheral blood, have a high proliferation property so as to be storable without generic variation, and can rapidly ensure a cell number so as to be usable in cell therapy. The endocardium-derived adult stem cells have sternness, thereby having high preparation efficiency, and are derived from the endocardium so as to have the epigenetic memory of cardiovascular cells, thereby having an advantage of being able to be differentiated, after preparing induced pluripotent stem cells, into cardiovascular cells such as endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and cardiomyocytes with a high efficiency.

The invention is directed to in vitro methods of inducing differentiation of anterior foregut endoderm and the enriched populations of anterior foregut endoderm produced by such methods. Such enriched populations are useful for studies of the molecular events that occur during differentiation and for generating cells for cell replacement therapy.

The generation of complex organ tissues from human embryonic and pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) remains a major challenge for translational studies. It is shown that PSCs can be directed to differentiate into intestinal tissue in vitro by modulating the combinatorial activities of several signaling pathways in a step-wise fashion, effectively recapitulating in vivo fetal intestinal development. The resulting intestinal “organoids” were three-dimensional structures consisting of a polarized, columnar epithelium surrounded by mesenchyme that included a smooth muscle-like layer. The epithelium was patterned into crypt-like SOX9-positive proliferative zones and villus-like structures with all of the major functional cell types of the intestine. The culture system is used to demonstrate that expression of NEUROG3, a pro-endocrine transcription factor mutated in enteric anendocrinosis is sufficient to promote differentiation towards the enteroendocrine cell lineage. In conclusion, PSC-derived human intestinal tissue should allow for unprecedented studies of human intestinal development, homeostasis and disease.

Disclosed are methods of inducing differentiation of stem into myogenic cells without gene manipulation and for inducing proliferation of satellite cells. The cells can be used as a source of cells for transplantation in a subject in need thereof. Also disclosed is a screening assay for screening test compounds using blastomere cultures.

There is provided herein cell culture mediums for generating organoids, including tumour organoids.

The present invention relates to a method for producing astrocytes comprising obtaining neural progenitor cells from stem cells so as to continuously produce astrocytes with high purity and same traits, followed by two steps of differentiating the neural progenitor cells into the astrocytes, and astrocytes produced therefrom. Since the method of preparing the astrocytes provided in the present invention enables not only production of the astrocytes with high purity and faster production of the astrocytes with same characteristics, but also rapid differentiation of the astrocytes using the neural progenitor cells when necessary, it can be widely used for effectively treating a patient with a disease which requires transplantation of the astrocytes.