Protein transduction from retroviral Gag precursors.

Retroviral particles assemble a few thousand units of the Gag polyproteins. Proteolytic cleavage mediated by the retroviral protease forms the bioactive retroviral protein subunits before cell entry. We hypothesized that this process could be exploited for targeted, transient, and dose-controlled transduction of nonretroviral proteins into cultured cells. We demonstrate that gammaretroviral particles tolerate the incorporation of foreign protein at several positions of their Gag or Gag-Pol precursors. Receptor-mediated and thus potentially cell-specific uptake of engineered particles occurred within minutes after cell contact. Dose and kinetics of nonretroviral protein delivery were dependent upon the location within the polyprotein precursor. Proteins containing nuclear localization signals were incorporated into retroviral particles, and the proteins of interest were released from the precursor by the retroviral protease, recognizing engineered target sites. In contrast to integration-defective lentiviral vectors, protein transduction by retroviral polyprotein precursors was completely transient, as protein transducing retrovirus-like particles could be produced that did not transduce genes into target cells. Alternatively, bifunctional protein-delivering particle preparations were generated that maintained their ability to serve as vectors for retroviral transgenes. We show the potential of this approach for targeted genome engineering of induced pluripotent stem cells by delivering the site-specific DNA recombinase, Flp. Protein transduction of Flp after proteolytic release from the matrix position of Gag allowed excision of a lentivirally transduced cassette that concomitantly expresses the canonical reprogramming transcription factors (Oct4, Klf4, Sox2, c-Myc) and a fluorescent marker gene, thus generating induced pluripotent stem cells that are free of lentivirally transduced reprogramming genes.

Lentiviral vector design and imaging approaches to visualize the early stages of cellular reprogramming.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be derived from somatic cells by gene transfer of reprogramming transcription factors. Expression levels of these factors strongly influence the overall efficacy to form iPSC colonies, but additional contribution of stochastic cell-intrinsic factors has been proposed. Here, we present engineered color-coded lentiviral vectors in which codon-optimized reprogramming factors are co-expressed by a strong retroviral promoter that is rapidly silenced in iPSC, and imaged the conversion of fibroblasts to iPSC. We combined fluorescence microscopy with long-term single cell tracking, and used live-cell imaging to analyze the emergence and composition of early iPSC clusters. Applying our engineered lentiviral vectors, we demonstrate that vector silencing typically occurs prior to or simultaneously with the induction of an Oct4-EGFP pluripotency marker. Around 7 days post-transduction (pt), a subfraction of cells in clonal colonies expressed Oct4-EGFP and rapidly expanded. Cell tracking of single cell-derived iPSC colonies supported the concept that stochastic epigenetic changes are necessary for reprogramming. We also found that iPSC colonies may emerge as a genetic mosaic originating from different clusters. Improved vector design with continuous cell tracking thus creates a powerful system to explore the subtle dynamics of biological processes such as early reprogramming events.

Optimal reprogramming factor stoichiometry increases colony numbers and affects molecular characteristics of murine induced pluripotent stem cells.

Somatic cells can be reprogrammed toward pluripotency by overexpression of a set of transcription factors, yielding induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with features similar to embryonic stem cells. Little is known to date about stoichiometric requirements of the individual reprogramming factors (RFs) for efficient reprogramming and especially about whether stoichiometry also influences the quality of derived iPSCs. To address this important issue, we chose bicistronic lentiviral vectors coexpressing fluorescent reporters (eGFP, dTomato, Cerulean, or Venus) along with the canonical RFs to transduce a bulk of murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). Using a flow cytometric approach, we were able to independently and proportionally quantify all fluorophores in multiple-infected MEFs and more importantly could sort these cells into all 16 stoichiometric combinations of high or moderate expression of the four factors. On average, we obtained about 600 alkaline phosphatase-expressing colonies from 20,000 seeded cells. Interestingly, only seven different stoichiometric ratios gave rise to any colonies at all. The by far most colonies were obtained from those fractions, where Oct4 was in excess over the other three factors (2,386 colonies/20,000 cells), or where both Oct4 and c-Myc were in excess over Sox2 and Klf4 (1,593 colonies/20,000 cells). Our findings suggest that increased Oct4 levels opposite to modest ones for Sox2 and Klf4 are required for satisfying reprogramming efficiencies and that these stoichiometries are also highly beneficial for achieving a stable pluripotent state independent of ectopic RF expression. Finally, the eligible Oct4(high) , Sox2(low) , and Klf4(low) subpopulation only resembles a small fraction of cells targeted by equal vector amounts, suggesting the necessity to address stoichiometry also in alternative approaches for iPSC generation or between different experimental systems.

Preparation of bioactive soluble human leukemia inhibitory factor from recombinant Escherichia coli using thioredoxin as fusion partner.

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a polyfunctional cytokine with numerous regulatory effects in vivo and in vitro. In stem cell cultures it is the essential media supplement for the maintenance of pluripotency of embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. With regard to large scale cultures of these cells, LIF is needed in high quality and quantity and represents the major cost determining factor (90%) of the culture media. In this report, we describe a novel production and purification process for human LIF (hLIF) from recombinant Escherichia coli cultures. hLIF was cloned into pET32b and expressed as soluble protein in fusion with thioredoxin. After purification based on membrane adsorber technology, the fusion protein was cleaved using TEV protease. Released, soluble hLIF was subsequently purified by cation exchange chromatography and successfully tested for its biological activity using suspension cultures of murine embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. Our novel protocol for the production of recombinant hLIF is very suitable and effective for the production of poorly soluble proteins through expression in fusion with the solubilizing partner thioredoxin.

FAS-based cell depletion facilitates the selective isolation of mouse induced pluripotent stem cells.

Cellular reprogramming of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) opens up new avenues for basic research and regenerative medicine. However, the low efficiency of the procedure remains a major limitation. To identify iPSC, many studies to date relied on the activation of pluripotency-associated transcription factors. Such strategies are either retrospective or depend on genetically modified reporter cells. We aimed at identifying naturally occurring surface proteins in a systematic approach, focusing on antibody-targeted markers to enable live-cell identification and selective isolation. We tested 170 antibodies for differential expression between mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) and mouse pluripotent stem cells (PSC). Differentially expressed markers were evaluated for their ability to identify and isolate iPSC in reprogramming cultures. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EPCAM) and stage-specific embryonic antigen 1 (SSEA1) were upregulated early during reprogramming and enabled enrichment of OCT4 expressing cells by magnetic cell sorting. Downregulation of somatic marker FAS was equally suitable to enrich OCT4 expressing cells, which has not been described so far. Furthermore, FAS downregulation correlated with viral transgene silencing. Finally, using the marker SSEA-1 we exemplified that magnetic separation enables the establishment of bona fide iPSC and propose strategies to enrich iPSC from a variety of human source tissues.