Regeneration of tracheal epithelium using mouse induced pluripotent stem cells

Abstract

Conclusion The findings demonstrated the potential use of induced pluripotent stem cells for regeneration of tracheal epithelium.

Objective Autologous tissue implantation techniques using skin or cartilage are often applied in cases of tracheal defects with laryngeal inflammatory lesions and malignant tumor invasion. However, these techniques are invasive with an unstable clinical outcome. The purpose of this study was to investigate regeneration in a tracheal defect site of nude rats after implantation of ciliated epithelium that was differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells.

Method Embryoid bodies were formed from mouse induced pluripotent stem cells. They were cultured with growth factors for 5 days, and then cultured at the air–liquid interface. The degree of differentiation achieved prior to implantation was determined by histological findings and the results of real-time polymerase chain reaction. Embryoid bodies including ciliated epithelium were embedded into collagen gel that served as an artificial scaffold, and then implanted into nude rats, creating an ‘air–liquid interface model’. Histological evaluation was performed 7 days after implantation.

Results The ciliated epithelial structure survived on the lumen side of regenerated tissue. It was demonstrated histologically that the structure was composed of ciliated epithelial cells.

Keywords:

• Induced pluripotent stem cells
• embryoid body
• ciliated epithelial cells
• regeneration

Acknowledgments

We thank Ms Etsuko Sato for her technical assistance. This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Fukushima Medical University. Part of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum, San Francisco, CA, August 23–26, 2015.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.