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. 2010 May 20;115(20):4039-42.
doi: 10.1182/blood-2009-07-231845. Epub 2010 Mar 16.

Generation of iPSCs from cultured human malignant cells

Affiliations

Generation of iPSCs from cultured human malignant cells

Jan E Carette et al. Blood. .

Abstract

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be generated from various differentiated cell types by the expression of a set of defined transcription factors. So far, iPSCs have been generated from primary cells, but it is unclear whether human cancer cell lines can be reprogrammed. Here we describe the generation and characterization of iPSCs derived from human chronic myeloid leukemia cells. We show that, despite the presence of oncogenic mutations, these cells acquired pluripotency by the expression of 4 transcription factors and underwent differentiation into cell types derived of all 3 germ layers during teratoma formation. Interestingly, although the parental cell line was strictly dependent on continuous signaling of the BCR-ABL oncogene, also termed oncogene addiction, reprogrammed cells lost this dependency and became resistant to the BCR-ABL inhibitor imatinib. This finding indicates that the therapeutic agent imatinib targets cells in a specific epigenetic differentiated cell state, and this may contribute to its inability to fully eradicate disease in chronic myeloid leukemia patients.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Generation of iPSCs derived from human KBM7 leukemic cancer cells. (A) Introduction of c-MYC, OCT4, SOX2, and KLF4 into KBM7 cells led to the formation of rare adherent colonies that displayed morphologic similarity to human embryonic stem (ES) cells as well as high alkaline phosphatase activity. Reprogrammed KBM7 cells homogeneously stained for pluripotency markers Tra-1-81 and OCT4 and CD9 but did not stain for hematopoietic CD43 (green immunofluorescence; nuclear counterstain in blue). (B) Total RNA from KBM7 cells, reprogrammed KBM7 cells, and human ES cells was isolated and analyzed by reverse-transcribed polymerase chain reaction for the expression of human ES cell characteristic transcripts REX1, FGF4, and TDGF1, endogenous OCT4 and SOX2, NANOG, GDF3, LIN28, and ZIC3, the hematopoietic specific transcripts CD43 and CD45, and the CML specific BCR-ABL fusion transcript. (C) Subcutaneous injection of cancer induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs; KBM7-iPS2) into non-obese diabetic severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD-SCID) mice led to formation of teratoma. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections of the tumor (i, original magnification ×40) revealed extensive areas of embryonal carcinoma (ii, original magnification ×100; iii, original magnification ×400) and ectoderm-derived primitive neuroectodermal tissue (iv, original magnification ×100; v, original magnification ×400). Differentiation into muscle (mesodermal; vi, original magnification ×400), and ciliated respiratory epithelium (endodermal; vii, original magnification ×600) was also present. (D) Methylation analysis of the OCT4 and NANOG promoter region in KBM7 cells, the generated iPSCs, and hES cells. Light gray squares represent unmethylated; black squares, methylated cytosine-phosphate-guanosine. Numbers indicate the percentage methylated cytosine-phosphate-guanosine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Reprogramming of KBM7 cells results in escape from oncogene addiction. (A) KBM7-iPSCs acquired insensitivity to treatment with 1μM of the BCR-ABL kinase inhibitor imatinib (Gleevec), whereas parental KBM7 cells were highly sensitive. KBM7 cells, reprogrammed KBM7-iPS2 cells, and nonhematopoietic differentiated derivatives were cultured without (top row) or with the addition of 1μM imatinib for 3 days (bottom row). All images were acquired with a standard Nikon microscope with a 10× objective. (B) Viability of KBM7 cells infected with retroviral constructs encoding indicated cDNAs on imatinib treatment 7 days after infection. Only when the 4 factors were expressed in combination, KBM7 cells acquired insensitivity to imatinib. Cell viability was measured using an XTT (2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide) conversion assay. Values given are percentages of uninfected control cultures. Data are the mean plus or minus SD values from a typical experiment performed in triplicate. (C) Flow cytometry histograms of KBM7 cells 7 days after infection with retroviruses expressing indicated cDNAs showed that a combination of the 4 reprogramming factors led to loss of expression of CD45, a pan-hematopoietic marker. (D) Flow cytometric analysis of KBM7-iPSCs differentiated into the hematopoietic lineage showed distinct subpopulation stained by CD45 and CD43 antibodies. Imatinib treatment resulted in a reduction of these subpopulations.

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