The International Journal of Developmental Biology
Linking Development, Stem Cells and Cancer Research

Volume 60 - Numbers 10-11-12 (2016) / Pages 321-420                           Editor-in-Chief: Juan Aréchaga

MORE INFORMATION   [Abstract - FullText / Full Text Open Access]

ISSN: 0214-6282 / ISSN-e: 1696-3547                            www.intjdevbiol.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Issue:   Atlas of Human Experimental Teratomas

PAGINA EN CONSTRUCCION        PAGINA EN CONSTRUCCION

Preface

EHU/UPV/UBC - The International Journal of Developmental Biology 60: 321 - 325 (2016) doi: 10.1387/ijdb.160437id / © UPV/EHU Press   ( www.a360grados.net )

Pluripotent human stem cells: Standing on the shoulders of giants
Ivan Damjanov 1 and Peter W Andrews 2
1. Department of Pathology, The University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
2. The Centre for Stem Cell Biology, Department of Biomedical Science, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Abstract:  The advent of human pluripotent stem cells, with the first derivation of human embryonic stem cells in 1998, and of human induced pluripotent stem cells in 2007, has ushered in an era of considerable excitement about the prospects of using these cells to develop new opportunities for healthcare, from their potential for regenerative medicine to their use as tools for studying the cellular basis of many diseases and the discovery of new drugs. But as with the flowering of many new areas in science, the biology of human pluripotent stem cells has its roots in a long history of, sometimes, less fêted research. In a period when research funding is frequently driven by a desire to meet specific clinical or economic goals, it is salutary to remember that the opportunities offered by human pluripotent stem cells have their origins in curiosity driven research without any of those goals in mind. In this case, that research focused on the relatively rare gonadal cancers known as teratomas, tumors that have fascinated people since antiquity because their sometime grotesque manifestations with haphazard collections of tissues and sometimes recognizable body parts. Although well known to clinical pathologists it was the pioneering work of Leroy Stevens, who first discovered that teratomas occur at a significant rate in the 129 strain of the laboratory mouse and could be produced experimentally, that laid the foundations for our understanding of the biology of these tumors and the central role of the embryonal carcinoma cell, one of the archetypal tumor stem cells.
Keywords:  Experimental Teratomas, pluripotent stem cells, differentiation, embryonic tissues

Symposium Report

EHU/UPV/UBC - The International Journal of Developmental Biology 60: 327 - 336 (2016) doi: 10.1387/ijdb.160420bk  / © UPV/EHU Press   ( www.a360grados.net ) 

Honoring the work and life of Leroy C. Stevens. A symposium as part of the International Stem Cell Initiative Workshop
Christopher F. Graham 1, Davor Solter 2, John D. Gearhart 3, Joseph H. Nadeau 4 and Barbara B. Knowles 5
1. Zoology Department, Oxford University, U.K.
2. Emeritus, Max Planck Society, Germany
3. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
4. Pacific Northwest Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
5. Emerita, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA

Abstract:  In 2016, a symposium was convened in Leroy C. Stevens’ honor, in association with a meeting of the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI). ISCI, funded internationally, is composed of a group of ~100 scientists from many countries, under the leadership of Peter Andrews, who have worked together to characterize a significant number of human pluripotent stem cell lines, to monitor their genetic stability and their differentiation into mature cell types and tissues in vitro and in vivo. Those at the ISCI meeting puzzled through one of the thorniest problems in the therapeutic use of the differentiated derivatives of pluripotent stem cells for human therapy; namely, pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into any cell type in the adult organism, but they also have the capacity for unlimited self-renewal, hence if mutated they may have tumorigenic potential. The meeting considered how these cells might become genetically or epigenetically abnormal and how the safety of these cells for human therapeutic uses could be assessed and assured. The symposium was an opportunity to pay tribute to Leroy Stevens and to the basic science origins of this newest aspect of regenerative medicine. It was a time to reflect on the past and on how it can influence the future of our field.
Keywords: Leroy C. Stevens, stem cell, PSC, human therapy, tumor

Atlas of Human Experimental Teratomas 

EHU/UPV/UBC - The International Journal of Developmental Biology 60: 337 - 419 (2016) doi: 10.1387/ijdb.160274id  /  © UPV/EHU Press    ( www.a360grados.net ) 

Teratomas produced from human pluripotent stem cells xenografted into immunodeficient mice - a histopathology atlas
Ivan Damjanov 1 and Peter W. Andrews 2
1. Department of Pathology, The University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
2. The Centre for Stem Cell Biology, Department of Biomedical Science, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.

Abstract:  This atlas illustrates the microscopic features of tumors produced from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) xenografted into immunosuppressed mice, according to the generally accepted protocols for performing this teratoma assay of stem cell pluripotency. Microphotographs depict various hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained tissues derived from all three embryonic germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm). The appearance of persistent hPSC in teratomas is also described with special emphasis on the morphogenesis of embryoid bodies and yolk sac components surrounding them. The use of immunohistochemistry for analyzing hPSC-derived teratomas is also illustrated.
Keywords: human pluripotent stem cells, ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm, yolk sac

Sections

Synoptic view of xenografts  .....  345

Ectodermal derivatives .....  365

Endodermal derivatives  .....  379

Eesodermal derivatives  .....  387

Human PSCs, early embryonic and estraembryonic tissues  .....  403