Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute, Anne McLaren Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Department of Surgery, West Forvie Site, Robinson Way, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0SZ, UK.
Stem Cell Reports. 2013 Oct 10;1(4):293-306. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2013.09.003. eCollection 2013.
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) could provide an infinite source of clinically relevant cells with potential applications in regenerative medicine. However, hPSC lines vary in their capacity to generate specialized cells, and the development of universal protocols for the production of tissue-specific cells remains a major challenge. Here, we have addressed this limitation for the endodermal lineage by developing a defined culture system to expand and differentiate human foregut stem cells (hFSCs) derived from hPSCs. hFSCs can self-renew while maintaining their capacity to differentiate into pancreatic and hepatic cells. Furthermore, near-homogenous populations of hFSCs can be obtained from hPSC lines which are normally refractory to endodermal differentiation. Therefore, hFSCs provide a unique approach to bypass variability between pluripotent lines in order to obtain a sustainable source of multipotent endoderm stem cells for basic studies and to produce a diversity of endodermal derivatives with a clinical value.
人类多能干细胞（hPSCs）可为再生医学提供具有潜在应用价值的大量临床相关细胞。然而，hPSC 系在生成特化细胞的能力上存在差异，开发用于生成组织特异性细胞的通用方案仍是一项重大挑战。在这里，我们通过开发一种定义明确的培养系统来扩大和分化源自 hPSC 的人前肠干细胞（hFSCs），从而解决了内胚层谱系的这一局限性。hFSCs 可以自我更新，同时保持分化为胰腺和肝细胞的能力。此外，还可以从通常对内胚层分化具有抗性的 hPSC 系中获得近乎同质的 hFSCs 群体。因此，hFSCs 提供了一种独特的方法，可以绕过多能系之间的变异性，从而获得可持续的多能内胚层干细胞来源，用于基础研究，并产生具有临床价值的多种内胚层衍生物。
