The long-term goal of this project is to develop an autologous cell-based therapy to reconstitute the injured lung epithelium utilizing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a novel cell population generated by reprogramming fibroblasts into cells virtually indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The remarkable developmental and differentiation potential of iPSCs makes them attractive candidates for cell-based therapies. Before the full potential of iPSCs can be realized, however, it is first necessary to precisely direct their differentiation in culture and to develop the methodologies needed to sort these cells to purity without contamination by undifferentiated pluripotent cells. This proposal presents three specific aims designed to further advance iPSC research in order to direct the differentiation of these cells into lung epithelial progenitors with a defined cell surfce phenotype. Approaches for utilizing the resulting cells for regeneration of alveolar tissue are presented, and discoveries made in the mouse ESC system in the previous funding cycle are applied to human cells in order to prepare patient-specific lung progenitors from iPSCs.
Aim 1 develops methodologies for the isolation of mouse iPSC-derived lung progenitors, using novel cell surface markers that identify Nkx2.1+ endoderm.
Aim 2 tests the functional roles of a subset of these surface proteins, and Aim 3 utilizes human iPSCs to establish the surface phenotype of primordial human NKX2.1+ endodermal lung progenitors.

Public Health Relevance

This renewal application proposes to develop novel approaches for the regeneration of injured or diseased lung tissue. Completion of these goals would significantly advance the goal of achieving future stem cell-based treatment approaches applicable to any end-stage lung disease, such as cystic fibrosis and emphysema. Herein we propose to develop the methodologies necessary for the derivation and purification of lung progenitors from reprogrammed patient-specific cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We propose to utilize iPSCs we have derived from mice and humans, and we will engineer these cells in order to be able to accomplish: a) the purification of lung progenitors based on newly identified cell surface protein markers, and b) the directed differentiation of patient-derived iPSCs into lung epithelial progenitors and endothelial cells.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HL095993-09
Application #
9281022
Study Section
Lung Injury, Repair, and Remodeling Study Section (LIRR)
Program Officer
Lin, Sara
Project Start
2009-04-01
Project End
2018-05-31
Budget Start
2017-06-01
Budget End
2018-05-31
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
$529,979
Indirect Cost
$206,229
Name
Boston University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
604483045
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02118
McCauley, Katherine B; Hawkins, Finn; Kotton, Darrell N (2018) Derivation of Epithelial-Only Airway Organoids from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells. Curr Protoc Stem Cell Biol 45:e51
McCauley, Katherine B; Alysandratos, Konstantinos-Dionysios; Jacob, Anjali et al. (2018) Single-Cell Transcriptomic Profiling of Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived SCGB3A2+ Airway Epithelium. Stem Cell Reports 10:1579-1595
Kotton, Darrell N (2018) Claudin-18: unexpected regulator of lung alveolar epithelial cell proliferation. J Clin Invest 128:903-905
Serra, Maria; Alysandratos, Konstantinos-Dionysios; Hawkins, Finn et al. (2017) Pluripotent stem cell differentiation reveals distinct developmental pathways regulating lung- versus thyroid-lineage specification. Development 144:3879-3893
Hawkins, Finn; Kramer, Philipp; Jacob, Anjali et al. (2017) Prospective isolation of NKX2-1-expressing human lung progenitors derived from pluripotent stem cells. J Clin Invest 127:2277-2294
Dame, Keri; Cincotta, Steven; Lang, Alex H et al. (2017) Thyroid Progenitors Are Robustly Derived from Embryonic Stem Cells through Transient, Developmental Stage-Specific Overexpression of Nkx2-1. Stem Cell Reports 8:216-225
McCauley, Katherine B; Hawkins, Finn; Serra, Maria et al. (2017) Efficient Derivation of Functional Human Airway Epithelium from Pluripotent Stem Cells via Temporal Regulation of Wnt Signaling. Cell Stem Cell 20:844-857.e6
Jacob, Anjali; Morley, Michael; Hawkins, Finn et al. (2017) Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Functional Lung Alveolar Epithelial Cells. Cell Stem Cell 21:472-488.e10
Kurmann, Anita A; Serra, Maria; Hawkins, Finn et al. (2015) Regeneration of Thyroid Function by Transplantation of Differentiated Pluripotent Stem Cells. Cell Stem Cell 17:527-42
Wilson, Andrew A; Ying, Lei; Liesa, Marc et al. (2015) Emergence of a stage-dependent human liver disease signature with directed differentiation of alpha-1 antitrypsin-deficient iPS cells. Stem Cell Reports 4:873-85

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