Highly contractile 3D tissue engineered skeletal muscles from human iPSCs reveal similarities with primary myoblast-derived tissues

Summary

Skeletal muscle research is transitioning toward 3D tissue engineered in vitro models reproducing muscle's native architecture and supporting measurement of functionality. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) offer high yields of cells for differentiation. It has been difficult to differentiate high-quality, pure 3D muscle tissues from hiPSCs that show contractile properties comparable to primary myoblast-derived tissues. Here, we present a transgene-free method for the generation of purified, expandable myogenic progenitors (MPs) from hiPSCs grown under feeder-free conditions. We defined a protocol with optimal hydrogel and medium conditions that allowed production of highly contractile 3D tissue engineered skeletal muscles with forces similar to primary myoblast-derived tissues. Gene expression and proteomic analysis between hiPSC-derived and primary myoblast-derived 3D tissues revealed a similar expression profile of proteins involved in myogenic differentiation and sarcomere function. The protocol should be generally applicable for the study of personalized human skeletal muscle tissue in health and disease. Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Authors van der Wal E, Iuliano A, In 't Groen SLM, Bholasing AP, Priesmann D, Sharma P, den Hamer B, Saggiomo V, Krüger M, Pijnappel WWMP, de Greef JC
Journal Stem cell reports
Publication Date 2023 Oct 10;18(10):1954-1971
PubMed 37774701
PubMed Central PMC10656354
DOI 10.1016/j.stemcr.2023.08.014

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