Generation of Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Functional Enterocyte-Like Cells for Pharmacokinetic Studies
Shinpei Yoshida, Takayuki Honjo, Keita Iino, Ryunosuke Ishibe, Sylvia Leo, Tomoka Shimada, Teruhiko Watanabe, Masaya Ishikawa, Kazuya Maeda, Hiroyuki Kusuhara, Nobuaki Shiraki, Shoen Kume
Abstract
We aimed to establish an in vitro differentiation procedure to generate matured small intestinal cells mimicking human small intestine from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We previously reported the efficient generation of CDX2-expressing intestinal progenitor cells from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) using 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (BIO) and (3,5-difluorophenylacetyl)-L-alanyl-L-2-phenylglycine tert-butyl ester (DAPT) to treat definitive endodermal cells. Here, we demonstrate the generation of enterocyte-like cells by culturing human iPSC-derived intestinal progenitor cells on a collagen vitrigel membrane (CVM) and treating cells with a simple maturation medium containing BIO, DMSO, dexamethasone, and activated vitamin D3. Functional tests further confirmed that these iPSC-derived enterocyte-like cells exhibit P-gp- and BCRP-mediated efflux and cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4)-mediated metabolism. We concluded that hiPS cell-derived enterocyte-like cells can be used as a model for the evaluation of drug transport and metabolism studies in the human small intestine.