Directed Differentiation: Evolution towards Human Application.

Directed differentiation is defined as the ability to program a stem cell at the most primitive level while it still has its reproductive and full proliferative potential. This is in contrast to ex-vivo expansion where the stem cells are forced into specific lineage commitments, limiting the overall therapeutic utility. We have reproducibly induced directed stem cell differentiation towards megakaryopoiesis by capitalizing on inherent changes in sensitivities to inductive cytokine signals in the context of cell cycle position. Murine experiments have been performed on highly purified quiescent G_0–1 lineage^negative rhodamine^lowHoescht^low (LRH) marrow stem cells. When exposed to thrombopoietin, FLT3-ligand and steel factor (TFS), they synchronously pass through cell cycle. Megakaryopoiesis is focused at early to mid S-phase, returning to baseline before initial cell division. Population based differentiation cultures after 14-days produced up to 49% megakaryocytes with stem cells sub-cultured during early-mid S-phase with little to no production with colonies cultured from stem cells in G_0–1 or G₂ phase at time directed differentiation signaling. Gene expression showed over 2 fold increases in FOG, Nfe2 and Fli1. Clonal studies confirm the results. In one experiment, 33% of clonally derived colonies that grew from early-S phase cells and 10% of colonies that grew from mid-S phase cells had megakaryocytes present compared with 0% for G_0–1 and G₂ cells. We have now worked with human lineage^negative double-effluxed-rhodamine^low double-effluxed-Hoescht^low G_0–1 stem cells. When expose to TFS cytokines, there initial cell cycle lasts more than 80 hours opposed to CD34+ cells and murine LRH cells which have divided by 44–48 hours. This human population of stem cells comprises approximately 0.01% of CD34+ cells and has tremendous promise in replicating our murine work, elucidating opportunities for human translational work targeting patients that have a block of differentiation toward megakaryopoiesis i.e. sub-sets of autologous transplant or myelodysplastic syndrome patients.