An In Vitro 3D Model and Computational Pipeline to Quantify the Vasculogenic Potential of iPSC-Derived Endothelial Progenitors

Summary

Endothelial progenitors derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-EPs) have the potential to revolutionize cardiovascular disease treatments and to enable the creation of more faithful cardiovascular disease models. Herein, the encapsulation of iPSC-EPs in three-dimensional (3D) collagen microenvironments and a quantitative analysis of these cells’ vasculogenic potential are described.

Abstract

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a patient-specific, proliferative cell source that can differentiate into any somatic cell type. Bipotent endothelial progenitors (EPs), which can differentiate into the cell types necessary to assemble mature, functional vasculature, have been derived from both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. However, these cells have not been rigorously evaluated in three-dimensional environments, and a quantitative measure of their vasculogenic potential remains elusive. Here, the generation and isolation of iPSC-EPs via fluorescent-activated cell sorting are first outlined, followed by a description of the encapsulation and culture of iPSC-EPs in collagen hydrogels. This extracellular matrix (ECM)-mimicking microenvironment encourages a robust vasculogenic response; vascular networks form after a week of culture. The creation of a computational pipeline that utilizes open-source software to quantify this vasculogenic response is delineated. This pipeline is specifically designed to preserve the 3D architecture of the capillary plexus to robustly identify the number of branches, branching points, and the total network length with minimal user input.

Introduction

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and other primary endothelial cell types have been utilized for two decades to model blood vessel sprouting and development in vitro¹. Such vascular platforms promise to illuminate molecular and tissue-level mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and may present physiological insight into the development of primitive vascular networks^2,3. Though the field of vascular modeling has witnessed significant advances, a “gold standard” assay that can quantitatively model and assess physiological vascular development remains elusive. Mos....

Protocol

1. Preparation of culture media and coating solutions

1. To prepare vitronectin coating solution, dilute vitronectin 1:100 in Dulbecco’s phosphate-buffered saline (DPBS).
   CAUTION: Once diluted, it is not recommended to store this solution for future use.
2. Upon receiving phenol red-free, growth factor-reduced gelatinous protein mixture (see Table of Materials) from the manufacturer, thaw on ice at 4 °C until the mixture is transparent and fluid. Keeping the mixture on ice in a laminar flow hood, pipette 75 μL of the mixture into a 1.8 mL microcentrifuge tube and freeze at -20 °C immediately. These aliquots ....

Results

After differentiation (Figure 1), FACS and encapsulation of iPSC-EPs in collagen hydrogels, the cells will typically remain rounded for 24 h before beginning to migrate and form initial lumens. After about 6 days of culture, a primitive capillary plexus will be visible in the hydrogel when viewed with brightfield microscopy (Figure 2). After imaging the fixed, stained cell-laden hydrogels on a confocal microscope (Movie 1.......

Discussion

This protocol involves the long-term culture of cells in three types of cell culture media: E8, LaSR Basal, and EGM-2. Therefore, great care should be taken to appropriately sterilize all materials. Additionally, lab coats and ethanol-cleaned gloves should always be worn when working in the laboratory’s laminar flow hood. It is recommended to frequently test for mycoplasma contamination; if a large amount of debris is observed during iPSC culture or a sudden drop in differentiation efficiency is noted, mycoplasma c.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
µ-Slide Angiogenesis	Ibidi	N/A	A flat, glass bottom tissue-culture plate with side walls enables facile confocal imaging
96 well, round bottom, ultra low attachment microplate, sterile	Corning	7007	Prevents the binding of cell-laden collagen hydrogels to the cell culture dish
Accutase	STEMCELL Technologies	7920	Gentle cell detachment solution; does not degrade extracellular epitopes vital for FACS
Advanced DMEM/F12	Thermo Scientific	12634010	The base media for iPSC-EP differentiation.
Barnstead GenPure xCAD Plus	Thermo Fisher Scientific	50136165	Water purification system; others can be readily substituted
Bovine Serum Albumin solution,7.5% in DPBS, sterile-filtered, BioXtra, suitable for cell culture	Fisher Scientific	A8412	To preserve cell viability when FACs sorting
CD34-PE, human (clone: AC136)	Miltenyi Biotec	130-098-140	Antibody used for FACs isolation of iPSC-EPs
CHIR99021	LC Laboratories	C-6556	Induces the formation of mesoderm from pluripotent stem cells
Collagen I Rat Tail High Protein 100 mg	VWR	354249	Main component of the 3D microenvironment
Conical centrifuge tubes (15/50 mL)	Fisher Scientific	14-959-49D/A	Used to store and mix relatively large volumes of reagents and cell culture media
DAPI (4',6-Diamidino-2-Phenylindole, Dihydrochloride)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	D1306	To counterstain and visualize cell nuclei
DMEM/F12	Thermo Fisher Scientific	11320-082	For dilution of Matrigel and thawing of pluripotent stem cells
Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline (DPBS)	ThermoFisher	14190-250	To wash monolayer cultures
EDTA	Sigma-Aldrich	E8008	For passaging of pluripotent stem cell colonies and to prevent cell aggregation when FACs sorting
Endothelial Cell Growth Medium 2	PromoCell	C-22011	Promotes endothelial cell viability and proliferation
Essential 8 Medium	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A1517001	For maintenance of pluripotent stem cells
Glycine,BioUltra, for molecular biology, >=99.0% (NT)	Sigma-Aldrich	50046	Neutralizes remaining detergent
L-Ascorbic acid 2-phosphate sesquimagnesium salt hydrate,>=95%	Sigma-Aldrich	A8960	Component of iPSC-EP differentiation medium
MATLAB	MathWorks	1.8.0_152	Multi-paradigm numerical computing environment (free available at most academic institutions)
Matrigel Matrix GFR PhenolRF Mouse 10 mL (gelatinous protein mixture)	Fisher Scientific	356231	Diluted in DMEM/F12 to coat plates for iPSC-EP differentiation
Medium-199 10X	Thermo Fisher Scientific	1825015	Used to balance final hydrogel osmolarity and pH
Microcentrifuge tubes (1.7 mL)	VWR	87003-294	Stores small volumes of reagents
Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)	Sigma-Aldrich	P3813	The main ingredient of the immunostaining solutions
Penicillin-Streptomycin (10,000 U/mL)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	15140122	Antibiotic used after sorting to remove possible contamination from FACS instrument
Recombinant Human VEGF 165 Protein	R&D Systems	293-VE	Mitogen that stimulates endothelial cell proliferation and tubulogenesis
Rhodamine phalloidin	Themo Fisher Scientific	R415	To identify F-actin deposition and therfore outline the borders of the vascular networks
Triton X-100 (nonionic surfactant)	Sigma-Aldrich	X-100	Detergent used to gently permeabilize cells
Tween-20 (emulsifying reagent)	Fisher Scientific	BP337	Increases the binding specificity of the added antibodies
VE-Cadherin (F-8)	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-9989	To identify 3D endothelial lumen in collagen hydrogels
Vitronectin	ThermoFisher	A14700	For maintenance of pluripotent stem cells
Y-27632	Selleck Chemicals	S1049	Preserves pluripotent stem cell and iPSC-EP viability when dissociated and re-seeded