Harvesting multipotent progenitor cells from a small sample of tonsillar biopsy for clinical applications

Abstract Background Human adult stem cells hold the potential for the cure of numerous conditions and degenerative diseases. They possess major advantages over pluripotent stem cells as they can be derived from donors at any age, and therefore pose no ethical concerns or risk of teratoma tumor formation in vivo. Furthermore, they have a natural ability to differentiate and secrete factors that promote tissue healing without genetic manipulation. However, at present, clinical applications of adult stem cells are limited by a shortage of a reliable, standardized, and easily accessible tissue source which does not rely on specimens discarded from unrelated surgical procedures. Method Human tonsil-derived mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) were isolated from a small sample of tonsillar tissue (average 0.88 cm3). Our novel procedure poses a minimal mechanical and enzymatic insult to the tissue, and therefore leads to high cell viability and yield. We characterized these MPCs and demonstrated robust multipotency in vitro. We further show that these cells can be propagated and maintained in xeno-free conditions. Results We have generated tonsillar biopsy-derived MPC (T-MPC) lines from multiple donors across a spectrum of age, sex, and race, and successfully expanded them in culture. We characterized them by cell surface markers, as well as in vitro expansion and differentiation potential. Our procedure provides a robust yield of tonsillar biopsy-derived T-MPCs. Conclusions Millions of MPCs can be harvested from a sample smaller than 1 g, which can be collected from a fully awake donor in an outpatient setting without the need for general anesthesia or hospitalization. Our study identifies tonsillar biopsy as an abundant source of adult MPCs for regenerative medicine

RFX transcription factors are essential for hearing in mice

Sensorineural hearing loss is a common and currently irreversible disorder, because mammalian hair cells (HCs) do not regenerate and current stem cell and gene delivery protocols result only in immature HC-like cells. Importantly, although the transcriptional regulators of embryonic HC development have been described, little is known about the postnatal regulators of maturating HCs. Here we apply a cell type-specific functional genomic analysis to the transcriptomes of auditory and vestibular sensory epithelia from early postnatal mice. We identify RFX transcription factors as essential and evolutionarily conserved regulators of the HC-specific transcriptomes, and detect Rfx1,2,3,5 and 7 in the developing HCs. To understand the role of RFX in hearing, we generate Rfx1/3 conditional knockout mice. We show that these mice are deaf secondary to rapid loss of initially well-formed outer HCs. These data identify an essential role for RFX in hearing and survival of the terminally differentiating outer HCs