Can human embryonic stem cell-derived stromal cells serve a starting material for myoblasts?

ABSTRACT A large number of myocytes is necessary to treat intractable muscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy with cell-based therapies. However, starting materials for cellular therapy products such as myoblasts, marrow stromal cells, menstrual blood-derived cells and placenta-derived cells have a limited lifespan and cease to proliferate in vitro . From the viewpoints of manufacturing and quality control, cells with a long lifespan are more suitable as a starting material. In this study, we generated stromal cells for future myoblast therapy from a working cell bank of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The ESC-derived CD105 + cells with extensive in vitro proliferation capability exhibited myogenesis and genetic stability in vitro . These results imply that ESC-derived CD105 + cells are another cell source for myoblasts in cell-based therapy for patients with genetic muscular disorders. Since ESCs are immortal, mesenchymal stromal cells generated from ESCs can be manufactured at a large scale in one lot for pharmaceutical purposes.