Endodermal differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells using simple dialysis culture system in suspension culture

A differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into definitive endoderm linage is required for a preparation of metabolic organ derived cells. The differentiation consumed high-priced cytokines and small molecules, which have hampered the manufacturability of differentiated cells. Although the cytokines and small molecules are remained or cells produce the autocrine factors, daily culture medium change should be proceeded to remove toxic metabolites generated from cells. In this study, we developed a simple dialysis culture system to refine the medium during definitive endodermal differentiation. We demonstrated that dialysis culture prevented cell damage to remove lactate. The hiPSCs cultured with dialysis also differentiated similarly as usual differentiation without dialysis even if they were not supplied Activin A for latter culture days in the differentiation. With this dialysis culture system, hiPSCs were differentiated into endodermal lineage with medium refinement and recycling and autocrine factors as well as cytokines, which may lead to reduce differentiation cost.