Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are undifferentiated cells able to self-renew in vitro and generate cells derived from three primary germ layers of the embryo. Due to the potential of differentiation into different cells, they have proven to provide a promising strategy for tissue repair and regeneration, modeling human diseases, and for in vitro drug screening. Creative Biolabs has broad expertise in lineage-specific iPSC differentiation and here we introduce our custom osteogenic differentiation services.
iPSCs are a type of pluripotent stem cell artificially derived from non-pluripotent cells, typically adult somatic cells like skin cells or blood cells. Osteogenic cells are specialized cells involved in bone formation and regeneration. To induce iPSCs to differentiate into osteogenic cells, specific culture conditions and signaling molecules are utilized.
This process encompasses several stages and is regulated by a variety of growth factors and signaling pathways. Alongside growth factors, other factors such as mechanical stimulation, substrate stiffness, and 3D culture of iPSC can influence the efficiency and quality of osteogenic differentiation from iPSCs. As iPSCs differentiate into osteogenic cells, they undergo morphological changes and begin to express specific markers associated with osteoblasts, such as alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and collagen type I.
This approach holds great promise for regenerative medicine, as it offers the potential to generate patient-specific osteogenic cells for applications such as bone tissue engineering, drug discovery, and disease modeling. Research is ongoing to explore novel culture methods, biomaterials, and genetic engineering approaches to enhance the yield, purity, and functionality of iPSC-derived osteogenic cells.
Fig.1 The steps for generating iPSCs from a typical somatic cell type.1
iPSCs have nearly unlimited potential to proliferate and differentiate into not only all derivatives of the three primary germ layers (ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm), but also many mature cells in vitro. The differentiation into osteolineage cells requires a specific medium environment that is specifically tuned for differentiation, which is termed the osteogenic medium (OM). OM is typically composed of β-glycerol phosphate, ascorbic acid, and dexamethasone for osteoinduction of iPSCs. Supplements such as transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1), basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-β), and vitamin D3 can be added to enhance the osteogenic capability of iPSCs.
In vitro differentiation of iPSCs towards the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and osteoprogenitor cells is essential for osteogenesis of iPSCs. Three main approaches can be utilized for osteogenic induction of iPSCs:
EBs are the three-dimensional aggregates formed in suspension by pluripotent stem cells. They can be achieved using the hanging drop technique and formation in static suspension culture condition.
Fig.2 Approaches for osteogenic induction of iPSCs.
Creative Biolabs provides customized, flexible, and adaptable solutions to meet the specific requirements of your project. The osteogenic differentiation of iPSCs can be characterized and evaluated using a wide range of techniques. These include genomic and proteomic data generation as well as functional evaluation in vitro and in vivo.
In addition, you might be also interested in other iPSC Differentiation Services listed below:
With many years of experience in the stem cell research field, Creative Biolabs is proud to provide the most comprehensive differentiation services using iPSC derived from human or animals. contact us for further information and to discuss your project.
Below are the findings presented in the article related to osteogenic cell differentiation from iPSC.
Ping Zhou, et al. used cell viability assays, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence, alizarin red staining, cellular telomerase activity, flow cytometry, and other analyses to gain a deeper understanding of the osteogenic differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells cultured in monolayers.
As shown in the figure below, scientists analyzed the expression of other osteogenic differentiation markers ALP, COL1A1 and OCN by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence, and the results may indicate that hPSC underwent an early differentiation process toward osteoblasts within 3~7 days, and formed a mature extracellular matrix during 21~28 days of culture.
Fig. 3 mRNA and protein expression of osteogenic differentiation-related genes on day 7.2
References
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