Differentiation of Human Fetal Muscle Stem Cells from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Most muscular dystrophies are the result of genetic disorders. There is currently no effective treatment for these progressive diseases except palliative therapy. Muscle stem cells with potent self-renewal and regenerative potential are considered a target for treating muscular dystrophy. Human induced pluripotent stem cells have been expected as a source of MuSCs because of their infinite proliferation potential and less immunogenicity. However, the generation of engraftable MuSCs from hiPSCs is relatively difficult and encounters low efficiency and reproducibility. Here, we introduce a transgene-free protocol of hiPSCs differentiating into fetal MuSCs by identifying them as MYF5-positive cells. Flow cytometry analysis detected around 10% of MYF5-positive cells after 12 weeks of differentiation. Approximately 50 ~ 60% of MYF5-positive cells were positively identified using Pax7 immunostaining. This differentiation protocol is expected to be useful for not only the establishment of cell therapy but also the future drug discovery using patient-derived hiPSCs.