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Thyroid function

Differentiated pluripotent stem cells restore thyroid function

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 12, page 5 (2016)Cite this article

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Functional human thyroid cells can be generated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, according to findings reported in Cell Stem Cell. Furthermore, the research team showed that in a mouse model of hypothyroidism, thyroid function is restored by transplantation of mouse thyroid cells generated using this technique.

In this paper, the team report that a combination of the growth factors FGF2 and BMP4 in the growth media was sufficient to induce thyroid fate. Mouse or Xenopus embryos exposed to inhibitors of BMP or FGF signalling showed markedly reduced specification of thyroid progenitor cells. Culturing thyroid progenitor cells in a 3D culture system with a cocktail of thyroid maturation factors resulted in stable expression of thyroid-specific genes and the formation of follicular-like cell clusters, or organoids. Importantly, the organoids were capable of organification (incorporation of iodine into thyroglobulin) and the production of small amounts of T4.

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References

  1. Kurmann, A. A. et al. Regeneration of thyroid function by transplantation of differentiated pluripotent stem cells. Cell Stem Cell 17, 1–16 (2015)

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  1. Hugh Thomas
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Thomas, H. Differentiated pluripotent stem cells restore thyroid function. Nat Rev Endocrinol 12, 5 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2015.193

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2015.193

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