Human iPSC-Derived Posterior Gut Progenitors Are Expandable and Capable of Forming Gut and Liver Organoids

摘要

class="head no_bottom_margin" id="sec1title">IntroductionTargeting Developmental Progenitors for Future ApplicationsTransient amplification of developmental progenitors during early organogenesis is a mechanism for ensuring organ growth. These progenitor cells are amenable to proliferative stimuli because of their high levels of both genomic and epigenetic stability (, , ). Although pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) show unlimited capacity for in vitro expansion, recent emerging evidence suggests that factors including genetic and epigenetic variations or chromosomal instabilities () may change the properties of PSCs and their derivations, thus dampening their utility for future applications, because of the resulting high risk of tumorigenicity (). Therefore, targeting such developmental progenitors seems to be a reasonable strategy to obtain a large number of cells for subsequent application purposes. Although some attempts have been made to differentiate cardiac (, ), endodermal (, ), renal (), neuronal, and cortical (, ) progenitors by using pluripotency, establishing a stable source of developmental progenitors remains a challenge.