Isolated in vitro cell population comprising primate pluripotent stem cells containing a nucleic acid construct and differentiated progeny of the pluripotent stem cells
First Claim
1. An isolated in vitro cell population comprising differentiated cells and less than 1% primate pluripotent stem (pPS) cells, wherein the differentiated cells are the progeny of the pPS cells, and wherein the differentiated cells and the pPS cells comprise a nucleic acid molecule comprising the structure P-X,wherein X is a nucleic acid sequence encoding a product that is lethal to a cell in which it is expressed or renders a cell in which it is expressed susceptible to a lethal effect of an external agent, andwherein P is a transcriptional control element that is expressed in the pPS cells and down regulated when the pPS cells are induced to differentiate.
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Abstract
This invention provides a system for producing differentiated cells from a stem cell population for use wherever a relatively homogenous cell population is desirable. The cells contain an effector gene under control of a transcriptional control element (such as the TERT promoter) that causes the gene to be expressed in relatively undifferentiated cells in the population. Expression of the effector gene results in depletion of undifferentiated cells, or expression of a marker that can be used to remove them later. Suitable effector sequences encode a toxin, a protein that induces apoptosis; a cell-surface antigen, or an enzyme (such as thymidine kinase) that converts a prodrug into a substance that is lethal to the cell. The differentiated cell populations produced according to this disclosure are suitable for use in tissue regeneration, and non-therapeutic applications such as drug screening.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An isolated in vitro cell population comprising differentiated cells and less than 1% primate pluripotent stem (pPS) cells, wherein the differentiated cells are the progeny of the pPS cells, and wherein the differentiated cells and the pPS cells comprise a nucleic acid molecule comprising the structure P-X,
wherein X is a nucleic acid sequence encoding a product that is lethal to a cell in which it is expressed or renders a cell in which it is expressed susceptible to a lethal effect of an external agent, and wherein P is a transcriptional control element that is expressed in the pPS cells and down regulated when the pPS cells are induced to differentiate.
Specification