| Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are generated from
differentiated adult somatic cells by reprogramming them.
Unlimited self-renewal, and the potential to differentiate into
any cell type, make iPS cells very promising candidates for basic
and clinical research. Furthermore, iPS cells can be genetically
manipulated for use as therapeutic tools. DNA can be introduced
into iPS cells, using lentiviral vectors, which represent a helpful
choice for efficient transduction and stable integration of
transgenes. In this study, we compare two methods of lentiviral
transduction of iPS cells, namely, the suspension method and
the hanging drop method. In contrast to the conventional
suspension method, in the hanging drop method, embryoid
body (EB) formation and transduction occur concurrently. The
iPS cells were cultured to form EBs, and then transduced with
lentiviruses, using the conventional suspension method and the
hanging drop method, to express miR-128 and green fluorescent
protein (GFP). The number of transduced cells were assessed by
fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry. MTT assay and realtime
PCR were performed to determine the cell viability and
transgene expression, respectively. Morphologically, GFP cells
were more detectable in the hanging drop method, and this
finding was quantified by flow cytometric analysis. According to
the results of the MTT assay, cell viability was considerably higher
in the hanging drop method, and real-time PCR represented a
higher relative expression of miR-128 in the iPS cells introduced
with lentiviruses in drops. Altogether, it seems that lentiviral
transduction of challenging iPS cells using the hanging drop
method offers a suitable and sufficient strategy in their gene
transfer, with less toxicity than the conventional suspension
method. |