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Review
. 2018 Feb 23:7:220.
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.12596.1. eCollection 2018.

Recent advances in lineage differentiation from stem cells: hurdles and opportunities?

Joke Terryn  1 , Tine Tricot  1 , Madhavsai Gajjar  1 , Catherine Verfaillie  1
Affiliations
Review

Recent advances in lineage differentiation from stem cells: hurdles and opportunities?

Joke Terryn et al. F1000Res. .

Abstract

Pluripotent stem cells have the property of long-term self-renewal and the potential to give rise to descendants of the three germ layers and hence all mature cells in the human body. Therefore, they hold the promise of offering insight not only into human development but also for human disease modeling and regenerative medicine. However, the generation of mature differentiated cells that closely resemble their in vivo counterparts remains challenging. Recent advances in single-cell transcriptomics and computational modeling of gene regulatory networks are revealing a better understanding of lineage commitment and are driving modern genome editing approaches. Additional modification of the chemical microenvironment, as well as the use of bioengineering tools to recreate the cellular, extracellular matrix, and physical characteristics of the niche wherein progenitors and mature cells reside, is now being used to further improve the maturation and functionality of stem cell progeny.

Keywords: Stem cells; disease modeling; genome editing; regenerative medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing interests were disclosed.No competing interests were disclosed.No competing interests were disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Pluripotent stem cell (PSC) hierarchy.
Hypothesized hierarchy of human PSCs and their properties.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Schematic overview for the advances in lineage differentiation.
Induced pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), for studies of human disease or to create differentiated cells for regenerative medicine, can be generated from any somatic cell, from which the desired cell can be differentiated. However, current differentiation systems generate immature progeny. Recent advances in genome editing (CRISPRa/i), chemical screens, and bioengineering—extracellular matrix (ECM) functionalized hydrogels, bioprinting, and microfluidics—are being used to allow the derivation of more mature and functional PSC progeny, which resemble their in vivo counterparts better, and can be used for personalized and regenerative medicines. CRISPR, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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