Endothelial Cells Differentiated from Porcine Epiblast Stem Cells

The progress of induced pluripotent stem cells derived from pigs: a mini review of recent advances

Pigs (Sus scrofa) are widely acknowledged as an important large mammalian animal model due to their similarity to human physiology, genetics, and immunology. Leveraging the full potential of this model presents significant opportunities for major advancements in the fields of comparative biology, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine. Thus, the derivation of pluripotent stem cells from this species can offer new tools for disease modeling and serve as a stepping stone to test future autologous or allogeneic cell-based therapies. Over the past few decades, great progress has been made in establishing porcine pluripotent stem cells (pPSCs), including embryonic stem cells (pESCs) derived from pre- and peri-implantation embryos, and porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (piPSCs) using a variety of cellular reprogramming strategies. However, the stabilization of pPSCs was not as straightforward as directly applying the culture conditions developed and optimized for murine or primate PSCs. Therefore, it has historically been challenging to establish stable pPSC lines that could pass stringent pluripotency tests. Here, we review recent advances in the establishment of stable porcine PSCs. We focus on the evolving derivation methods that eventually led to the establishment of pESCs and transgene-free piPSCs, as well as current challenges and opportunities in this rapidly advancing field.

Functional Characterization of Endothelial Cells Differentiated from Porcine Epiblast Stem Cells

Endothelial cells (ECs), lining blood vessels' lumen, play an essential role in regulating vascular functions. As multifunctional components of vascular structures, pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are the promising source for potential therapeutic applications in various vascular diseases. Our laboratory has previously established an approach for differentiating porcine epiblast stem cells (pEpiSCs) into ECs, representing an alternative and potentially superior cell source. However, the condition of pEpiSCs-derived ECs growth has yet to be determined, and whether pEpiSCs differentiate into functional ECs remained unclear. Changes in morphology, proliferation and functional endothelial marker were assessed in pEpiSCs-derived ECs in vitro. pEpiSCs-derived ECs were subjected to magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) to collect CD-31+ of ECs. We found that sorted ECs showed the highest proliferation rate in differentiation media in primary culture and M199 media in the subculture. Next, sorted ECs were examined for their ability to act as typical vascular ECs through capillary-like structure formation assay, Dil-acetylated low-density lipoprotein (Dil-Ac-LDL) uptake, and three-dimensional spheroid sprouting. Consequently, pEpiSCs-derived ECs function as typical vascular ECs, indicating that pEpiSC-derived ECs might be used to develop cell therapeutics for vascular disease.