Provided herein are methods and culture systems for production of a biologically active Wnt polypeptide under a minimal serum condition. Also described herein include methods and culture systems for production of a biologically active Wnt polypeptide in a serum-free condition.

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.

The method for producing a cell aggregate including glial progenitor cells according to the present invention comprises: (1) a step of subjecting pluripotent stem cells to suspension culture in an embryoid-body-forming culture medium containing one or more SMAD signaling inhibitors and one or more Wnt signaling activators in the absence of feeder cells for 5 days to 10 days, to form a cell aggregate; (2) a step of subjecting the cell aggregate obtained in (1) to suspension culture in an embryoid-body-forming culture medium containing retinoic acid; (3) a step of subjecting the cell aggregate obtained in (2) to suspension culture in an embryoid-body-forming culture medium or neuron-and-glia-proliferating culture medium containing retinoic acid and one or more SHH signaling activators; and (4) a step of subjecting the cell aggregate obtained in (3) to suspension culture in a neuron-and-glia-proliferating culture medium containing no retinoic acid and one or more SHH signaling activators.

Provided are a biomarker identifying method including (1) to (4) and an application thereof. (1) An evaluation value for each of a plurality of biomarkers is derived based on annotation information imparted to each of biomarkers, and a measurement target biomarker is selected based on the evaluation value. (2) The evaluation data of the measurement target biomarker is acquired from the cell A and/or the culture system, before the start of culture of the cell A and/or during the culture. (3) The evaluation data of the discrimination marker of the B cell is acquired from the cell A and/or the culture system, at the final stage of the culture of the cell A and/or after the end of the culture. (4) At least one biomarker indicating characteristics of the cell A is identified from among the measurement target biomarkers, based on the data obtained from (2) and (3).

The present invention relates to a cryopreserved in vitro cell culture comprising human pancreatic progenitor cells that co-express pancreatic-duodenal homeobox factor-1 (PDX1) and NK6 homeobox 1 (NKX6.1) and are chromogranin negative. The present invention also relates to a method for cryopreserving an in vitro population of human pancreatic progenitor cells that co-express PDX1 and NKX6.1 and are chromogranin negative.

Methods are provided for the efficient differentiation of hPSCs into HSC-like cells and endothelial cells in defined, monolayer conditions solely using extracellular signals to guide differentiation. The instant disclosure also provides methods of screening for cellular responses of the generated hematopoietic stem cells, endothelial cells and derivatives thereof. Treatment methods making use of the generated hematopoietic stem cells and endothelial cells are also provided. The instant disclosure also provides systems, compositions, and kits for practicing the methods of the disclosure.

The present description provides improved methods for generating thymic epithelial progenitor (TEP) cells from pluripotent stem (PS) cells in vitro. Also provided are isolated invitro cell populations, compositions, and systems comprising TEP cells produced in vitro. Compositions and systems of cell populations of thymic epithelial cells and subpopulations thereof, as well as cells formed during different stages of differentiation of PS cells into thymic epithelial cells and subpopulations thereof are provided.

The present invention provides a method for producing dopaminergic neuron progenitor cells from pluripotent stem cells, which method comprises the steps of: (i) performing adherent culture of pluripotent stem cells on an extracellular matrix in a medium containing a reagent(s) selected from the group consisting of BMP inhibitor, TGFβ inhibitor, SHH signal-stimulating agent, FGF8, and GSK3β inhibitor; (ii) collecting Corin- and/or Lrtm1-positive cells from the cells obtained in Step (i) using a substance which binds to Corin and/or a substance which binds to Lrtm1; and (iii) performing suspension culture of the cells obtained in Step (ii) in a medium containing a neurotrophic factor.

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).

The invention discloses a method for inhibiting the growth of cancer cells by use of an anti-cancer composition containing a conditioned cell culture medium from mesenchymal stem cells and cytokines. It comprises the steps of applying a composition with a conditioned cell culture medium from stem cells and at least one cytokine to cancer cells for growth inhibition of the cancer cells. The cell culture medium can be conditioned with Wharton's Jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs) as an WJMSCs-conditoned cell culture medium, and the at least one cytokine is selected from a group consisting of bone morphogenetic protein-4, Dickkopf-related protein, Interferon-β and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand.