Integrated transcriptome and methylome analysis of undifferentiated and differentiated Brazilian pluripotent cell lines

Abstract

Human pluripotent stem cells have the ability to differentiate into distinct human cell types, thereby having the potential of reversing complex human ailments ranging from blindness to cancer. Currently, there exist hundreds of different hESC (human embryonic stem cells) and hiPS (human induced pluripotent stem cells) generated in non-latin countries. However, there exist high variability in their epigenomic signatures, which defines their differentiation propensity. Epigenomics is the genome-wide characterization of epigenetics, which is the study of changes in the activities and expression of genes that do not involve alterations to the genetic code. Our team generated the first Brazilian hESC and hiPS cells for the purpose of advancements in basic and applied stem cell and regenerative research in Brazil. However, their epigenome and transcriptome signatures have not been fully described. Our aim is to harness advances made in sequencing to generate a complete transcriptomic and epigenomic profile of both the undifferentiated and differentiated cell lines and compare our lines with data generated by the NIH Roadmap. This will aid in determining whether our pluripotent stem cell lines are same or different than the most widely-used stem cells. Our expectations are that the information we provide will lay the foundation for future stem cell and regenerative. (AU)