Behavior of leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5-expressing cells in the reprogramming process

It remains unclear what cells are proper for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) is well known as a tissue stem cell and progenitor marker, both of which are reported to be sensitive to reprogramming. In the present study, we examined the reprogramming behavior of Lgr5-expressing cells (Lgr5+ cells). First, we compared reprogramming behavior using mouse Lgr5+ and Lgr5 negative (Lgr5-) hair follicles (HFs). The number of alkaline phosphatase staining-positive cells was lesser in a well of Lgr5+ HFs than in Lgr5- HFs; however, the ratio of Nanog+ SSEA1+ cells in the cell mixture derived from Lgr5+ HFs was much higher than that from Lgr5- HFs. Lgr5+ cells could be induced from mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) after transduction with Yamanaka factors. As shown in HFs, the progeny of Lgr5+ cells arising from MEFs highly converted into Nanog+ cells and did not form Nanog- colonies. The progeny represented the status of the late reprogramming phase to a higher degree than the nonprogeny. We also confirmed this using human Lg5+ cells. Our findings suggest that the use of Lgr5+ cells will minimize sorting efforts for obtaining superior iPSCs.