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

Abstract EN

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.