IFN-α-producing proliferating myeloid cells reveal type I IFN-stimulating gene signature

We previously established a method to generate myeloid lineage cells with proliferation capacity from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) (Zhang R. Cancer Immunol Res. 3: 668, 2015). In this study, we generated the IFN-α-producing cells by genetic engineering of mouse iPSC-derived myeloid cells (iPSC-pMCs). Gene expression profiling of IFN-α-producing iPSC-pMCs (IFN-α-iPSC-pMCs) revealed a distinct interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) signature: of 613 differentially expressed genes (versus iPSC-pMC), 345 genes were ISGs of which > 70 % were type I IFN-related. Gene ontology analysis showed that the up-regulated gene signature was enriched for transcripts associate with immune responses, cellular responses to type I IFN, and defense responses to virus. Gene expression profiles of iPSC-pMCs, IFN-α-transuduced iPSC-pMCs, and IFN-α-treated iPSC-pMCs.