Hepatic population derived from human pluripotent stem cells is effectively increased by selective removal of undifferentiated stem cells using YM155

摘要

BackgroundPluripotent stem cells (PSCs) such as embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells are promising target cells for cell regenerative medicine together with recently advanced technology of in-vitro differentiation. However, residual undifferentiated stem cells (USCs) during in-vitro differentiation are considered a potential risk for development of cancer cells and nonspecific lineage cell types. In this study we observed that USCs still exist during hepatic differentiation, consequently resulting in poor quality of the hepatic population and forming teratoma in vivo. Therefore, we hypothesized that effectively removing USCs from in-vitro differentiation could improve the quality of the hepatic population and guarantee safety from risk of teratoma formation.