CEC 2
Development of human immortalized and induced pluripotent stem cells for in vitro disease modelling and toxicity testing
Programme of the Session
| 10:00 - 10:10 | Introduction & welcome Chantra Eskes & Thomas Hartung |
| 10:10-10:50 |
Immortalization of human cells |
| 10:50-11:30 |
Neuronal differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells lines |
|
11:30-12:00 |
Discussions |
| 12:00-13:00 | Lunch break |
| 13:00-13:40 | Human pluripotent stem cells for cardiac disease and safety pharmacology Robert Passier Leiden University Medical Centre, Netherlands |
| 13:40-14:20 |
Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cellular systems for in vitro disease modelling and toxicity testing |
|
14:20-15:00 |
Bioengineering next-generation stem cell culture technology Nikolce Gjorevski EPFL, Switzerland |
| 15:00-15:40 | Good cell culture practices on human stem cells Thomas Hartung CAAT, United States |
|
15:40-16:00 |
Round-table discussions & conclusions Chantra Eskes & Thomas Hartung |
Session Abstract
The increasing pace of technological developments of modern cell culture and engineering leads to what is often called “disruptive technologies” for product development and safety assessment. The combination of cell culture with genetic- and bio- engineering has led to a number of technologies to make cell culture more human- and organotypic- like, such as human stem cell-derived systems, 3D culture, perfusion, co-cultures, combinations with scaffolds and sensors that can lead to multi-organ “human-on-chip” solutions. By recreating human cells and organ architecture, homeostasis of the cell environment and organ functionality, these models mirror more closely the species of interest and its physiological situation. However, these technologies also bring a number of challenges in order to ensure reproducibility and quality of the systems used. These include cell identity, characterization of pluripotency, differentiation, functional potential, genetic stability, windows of use and microbiological controls as well as non-homeostatic and non-physiological culture conditions. The poor or lack of implementation of quality control and reporting standards can contribute to the current reproducibility crisis in the life sciences. In vitro methods are prone to artifacts, but they are developed much faster than their quality control.
This CEC session will provide insights on the challenges encountered in developing and culturing standardized and reproducible human immortalized and induced pluripotent stem cells from different organs, and on possible tools for ensuring their quality for in vitro disease modeling and toxicity testing applications. Furthermore it will address the concept of Good Cell Culture Practice (GCCP) applied to the fast-paced developments of new technologies such as human stem-cell-derived models and organotypic cell cultures, based on an international collaboration started in 2015 and carried out in the US and Europe.
