A composition having cell-derived physiological activity is provided. The composition according to the present invention contains a treated product of megakaryocytes or a culture of the megakaryocytes.

A method for producing CD4/CD8 double-positive T cells, comprising the steps of: (1) culturing pluripotent stem cells in a medium to induce hematopoietic progenitor cells; and (2) culturing the hematopoietic progenitor cells obtained in the step (1) in a medium containing a p38 inhibitor and/or SDF-1 to induce CD4/CD8 double-positive T cells.

The present invention relates to, inter alia, an engineered cell (e.g., iPSC, IPS-derived NK, or NK cell) comprising a disrupted B2M gene and an inserted polynucleotide encoding one or more of SERPINB9, a fusion of IL15 and IL15Rα, and/or HLA-E. The engineered cell can further comprise a disrupted CIITA gene and an inserted polynucleotide encoding a CAR, wherein the CAR can be an anti-BCMA CAR or an anti-CD30 CAR. The engineered cell may further comprise a disrupted ADAM17 gene, a disrupted FAS gene, a disrupted CISH gene, and/or a disrupted REGNASE-1 gene. Methods for producing the engineered cells are also provided, and therapeutic uses of the engineered cells are also described. Guide RNA sequences targeting described target sequences are also described.

The present invention relates to methods of generating and expanding hitman embryonic stem cell derived mesenchymal-like stem/stromal cells. These hES-MSCs are characterized at least in part by the low level of expression of IL-6. These cells are useful for the prevention and treatment of T cell related autoimmune disease, especially multiple sclerosis, as well as for delivering agents across the blood-brain barrier and the blood-spinal cord barrier. Also provided is a method of selecting clinical grade hES-MSC and a method of modifying MSC to produced a MSC with specific biomarker profile. The modified MSC are useful for treatment of various diseases.

The present invention relates to a method of culturing primitive-like macrophages from stem cells, a kit when used in the method thereof and uses of the primitive like macrophage for in-vitro disease models and for screening compounds for therapy. One embodied culture method comprises contacting and incubating embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells with a serum-free culture media comprising a GSK3 inhibitor to differentiate stem cells into cells of the mesoderm lineage, followed by incubation with a culture media comprising Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK1) to differentiate the mesoderm into cells of hematopoietic lineage, maturing hematopoietic cells and incubating these cells with a culture media comprising M-CSF to drive differentiation into primitive-like macrophages. Another embodiment comprises incubating the stem cells with serum-free culture media comprising FGF2 and BMP4 to induce differentiation into cells of the mesoderm lineage, followed by incubating the cells with a culture media comprising FGF2, BMP4, Activin A and VEGF to differentiate the cells of the mesoderm lineage into cells of the hematopoietic cell lineage, maturing the cells of the hematopoietic cell lineage and lastly, incubating the matured hematopoietic cells with culture media comprising M-CSF to drive the differentiation of hematopoietic cells into primitive-like macrophages.

The invention relates to in vitro methods for isolating, or producing selected populations of human epicardial cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells; defined mixtures of said cells, and therapeutic uses thereof. Said population comprises epicardial cells with or without the potential to differentiate into cardiac fibroblasts, or a mixture thereof.

Methods of generating and expanding human hemangio-colony forming cells in vitro and methods of expanding and using such cells are disclosed. The methods permit the production of large numbers of hemangio-colony forming cells as well as derivative cells, such as hematopoietic and endothelial cells. The cells obtained by the methods disclosed may be used for a variety of research, clinical, and therapeutic applications.

A method of producing helper T cells, comprising: (i) culturing T cells, which have been induced from pluripotent stem cells and into which a CD4 gene or a gene product thereof has been introduced, in a medium containing IL-2 and IL-15; and (ii) isolating CD40L-highly expressing T cells from cells obtained in step (i).

Embodiments herein relate to in vitro production methods of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) and hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) that have long-term multilineage hematopoiesis potentials upon in vivo engraftment. The HSC and HSPCs are derived from pluripotent stem cells-derived hemogenic endothelia cells (HE) by non-integrative episomal vectors-based gene transfer.

The present invention provides universal donor cellular populations derived from umbilical cords possessing ability to elicit immune modulation and evoke regeneration when administered into a mammalian host. Generation of cellular products for clinical use are provided including methodologies of expansion, characterization, and means of therapeutic implementation.