Feeder-Independent Derivation of Induced-Pluripotent Stem Cells From Peripheral Blood Endothelial Progenitor Cells

The objective of this study was to reprogram peripheral blood-derived late-endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) to a pluripotent state under feeder-free and defined culture conditions. Late-EPCs were retrovirally-transduced with OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, c-MYC, and iPSC colonies were derived in feeder-free and defined media conditions. EPC-iPSCs expressed pluripotent markers, were capable of differentiating to cells from all three germ-layers, and retained a normal karyotype. Transcriptome analyses demonstrated that EPC-iPSCs exhibit a global gene expression profile similar to human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). We have generated iPSCs from late-EPCs under feeder-free conditions. Thus, peripheral blood-derived late-outgrowth EPCs represent an alternative cell source for generating iPSCs.

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Chang WY, Lavoie JR, Kwon SY, Chen Z, Manias JL, Behbahani J, Ling V, Kandel RA, Stewart DJ, Stanford WL