Springer, Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, 3(17), p. 1053-1067, 2021
DOI: 10.1007/s12015-020-10113-7
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3677282
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AbstractHuman embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold promise in regenerative medicine but allogeneic immune rejections caused by highly polymorphic human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) remain a barrier to their clinical applications. Here, we used a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated HLA-editing strategy to generate a variety of HLA homozygous-like hESC lines from pre-established hESC lines. We edited four pre-established HLA-heterozygous hESC lines and created a mini library of 14 HLA-edited hESC lines in which single HLA-A and HLA-B alleles and both HLA-DR alleles are disrupted. The HLA-edited hESC derivatives elicited both low T cell- and low NK cell-mediated immune responses. Our library would cover about 40% of the Asian-Pacific population. We estimate that HLA-editing of only 19 pre-established hESC lines would give rise to 46 different hESC lines to cover 90% of the Asian-Pacific population. This study offers an opportunity to generate an off-the-shelf HLA-compatible hESC bank, available for immune-compatible cell transplantation, without embryo destruction.