title: A functionally characterized test set of human induced pluripotent stem cells.
abstract: Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) present exciting opportunities for studying development and for in vitro disease modeling. However, reported variability in the behavior of iPSCs has called their utility into question. We established a test set of 16 iPSC lines from seven individuals of varying age, sex and health status, and extensively characterized the lines with respect to pluripotency and the ability to terminally differentiate. Under standardized procedures in two independent laboratories, 13 of the iPSC lines gave rise to functional motor neurons with a range of efficiencies similar to that of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Although three iPSC lines were resistant to neural differentiation, early neuralization rescued their performance. Therefore, all 16 iPSC lines passed a stringent test of differentiation capacity despite variations in karyotype and in the expression of early pluripotency markers and transgenes. This iPSC and ESC test set is a robust resource for those interested in the basic biology of stem cells and their applications.
authors.affiliation: The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriella L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Boulting
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kiskinis
authors.forename: Gist F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Croft
authors.forename: Mackenzie W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Amoroso
authors.forename: Derek H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Oakley
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Wainger
authors.forename: Damian J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kahler
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamaki
authors.forename: Lance
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Davidow
authors.forename: Christopher T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Rodolfa
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Dimos
authors.forename: Shravani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mikkilineni
authors.forename: Amy B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: MacDermott
authors.forename: Clifford J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Woolf
authors.forename: Christopher E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Hynek
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wichterle
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eggan
mesh_terms: D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*