Generation of ABCA3:GFP expressing type II alveolar epithelial-like cells from human pluripotent stem cells

We perform transcriptomic profiling of cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using distal lung directed differentiation protocol previously described to generate alveolar type II epithelial-like cells (iAEC2s). We use the BU3 ABCA3:GFP iPSC line containing a GFP knock-in fluorescent reporter for the canonical AEC2 gene, ABCA3, to sort out pure populations of GFP positive and negative cells on day 31 of distal lung differentiation for bulk RNA sequencing analysis. We find canonical AEC2s transcripts as well as lamellar body-associated transcripts to be enriched in the ABCA3:GFP positive population suggestive of enrichment of AEC2 program. In contrast, we find non-lung endodermal lineages to be enriched in the ABCA3:GFP negative cells. Combined, these findings indicate the reliability of the ABCA3:GFP reporter in enriching iAEC2s in our in vitro distal lung directed differentiation protocol.