Stem Cells Int. 2017;2017:7541734. doi: 10.1155/2017/7541734. Epub 2017 Jun 15.

Can Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Stromal Cells Serve a Starting Material for Myoblasts?

Ando Y¹, Saito M¹, Machida M¹, Yoshida-Noro C², Akutsu H¹, Takahashi M¹, Toyoda M³, Umezawa A¹.

Abstract

A large number of myocytes are necessary to treat intractable muscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy with cell-based therapies. However, starting materials for cellular therapy products such as myoblasts, marrow stromal cells, menstrual blood-derived cells, and placenta-derived cells have a limited lifespan and cease to proliferate in vitro. From the viewpoints of manufacturing and quality control, cells with a long lifespan are more suitable as a starting material. In this study, we generated stromal cells for future myoblast therapy from a working cell bank of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The ESC-derived CD105⁺ cells with extensive in vitro proliferation capability exhibited myogenesis and genetic stability in vitro. These results imply that ESC-derived CD105⁺ cells are another cell source for myoblasts in cell-based therapy for patients with genetic muscular disorders. Since ESCs are immortal, mesenchymal stromal cells generated from ESCs can be manufactured at a large scale in one lot for pharmaceutical purposes.