CD140b and CD73 are markers for human induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived erythropoietin‐producing cells

Renal anemia in chronic kidney disease is treated with recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO). However, some patients with anemia do not respond well to rhEPO, emphasizing the need for a more biocompatible EPO. Differentiation protocols for hepatic lineages have been modified to enable production from human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)‐derived EPO‐producing cells (EPO cells). However, markers for hiPSC‐EPO cells are lacking, making it difficult to purify hiPSC‐EPO cells and therefore to optimize EPO production and cell counts for transplantation. To address these issues, we investigated whether CD140b and CD73 could be used as markers for hiPSC‐EPO cells. We measured the expression of EPO, CD140b, and CD73 in hiPSC‐EPO cells and the EPO concentration in the cell supernatant by immunohistochemistry and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays on culture day 13, revealing that expression levels of CD140b and CD73 are correlated with the level of EPO. In addition, rates of CD140b(+) CD73(+) cells were observed to be correlated with the concentration of EPO. Thus, our results suggest that CD140b and CD73 may be markers for hiPSC‐EPO cells.