Hemogenic endothelium differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells in a feeder-and xeno-free defined condition

Abstract

Deriving functional hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) from human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have been an elusive goal for autologous transplants to treat hematological and malignant disorders. Hemogenic endothelium (HE) is an amenable platform to produce functional HSPCs by transcription factors or to induce lymphocytes in a robust manner. However, current methods to derive HE are either costly or variable in yield. In this protocol, we established a cost-effective and precise method to derive HE within 4 days in a feeder-and xeno-free defined condition. The resultant HE underwent an endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition and produced CD34+CD45+ clonogenic hematopoietic progenitors. The potential capacity of our platform for generating functional HSPCs will have broad applications in disease modeling and screening for therapeutic compounds.