A human peripheral blood monocyte-derived subset acts as pluripotent stem cells

TLDR

These peripheral blood monocyte‑derived cells resemble fibroblasts, expand with macrophage colony‑stimulating factor, express CD14, CD34, and CD45, and their ability to be stored, expanded, and differentiated makes them promising for autologous transplantation. The authors isolated, cultured, and characterized adult pluripotent stem cells from peripheral blood monocytes, demonstrated their capacity to differentiate into macrophages, T cells, epithelial, endothelial, neuronal, and liver cells, and confirmed their pluripotency by clonal analysis.

Abstract

We have identified, cultured, characterized, and propagated adult pluripotent stem cells (PSC) from a subset of human peripheral blood monocytes. These cells, which in appearance resemble fibroblasts, expand in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor and display monocytic and hematopoietic stem cell markers including CD14, CD34, and CD45. We have induced these cells to differentiate into mature macrophages by lipopolysaccharide, T lymphocytes by IL-2, epithelial cells by epidermal growth factor, endothelial cells by vascular endothelial cell growth factor, neuronal cells by nerve growth factor, and liver cells by hepatocyte growth factor. The pluripotent nature of individual PSC was further confirmed by a clonal analysis. The ability to store, expand, and differentiate these PSC from autologous peripheral blood should make them valuable candidates for transplantation therapy.