293FT cells transduced with four transcription factors (OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and LIN28) generate aberrant ES-like cells

The HEK 293 cell line (293 cells) was derived from human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells grown in tissue culture. 293 cells are very easy to grow and transfect and have been widely used in cell biological research for many years. 293 cells have many of the properties of immature neurons, suggesting that they represent a transformed neuronal cell present in the original kidney culture, and they are not useful as an in vitro model for kidney cell function. The 293T cell line contains the SV(4)0 large T-antigen, which allows the episomal replication of transfected plasmids containing the SV40 origin of replication, and 293FT cells are a fast-growing variant. A recent report showed that introducing a set of transcription factors associated with pluripotency into human somatic cells can directly reprogr am them to produce induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. To date, however, iPS cells have not been generated from immortalized cells. We examined whether iPS cells could be generated from 293 FT cells transfected with four transcription factors (OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and LIN28). The obtained cells morphologically resembled human ES cells, and showed a similar marker gene expression pattern. These cells had an impaired ability to differentiate, and formed immature ectodermal tumors after they were transplanted into nude mice. Thus, we could not derive fully reprogrammed iPS cells from 293FT cells. We conclude that the 293FT cells transduced with OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and LIN28 produced aberrant ES-like cells.