Transcriptomic features of hiPSC-derived cells with a good capability to generate retinal organoids

Purpose: To identify transcriptomic features of hiPSC-derived cells with a good capability to generate retinal organoids Methods: Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) samples were collected at two time points for RNA sequencing (day zero and seven, each time point in triplicate). Cell pellets were collected and flash frozen. Total RNA was extracted by a phenol/chloroform method using TRIzol LS reagent (ThermoFisher Scientific, MA) according to the manufacturer's guidelines. tRNA was treated with DNAse I prior to library preparations being performed for RNAsequencing. Results: Human iPSC lines show variation in their ability to differentiate into a neuroectodermal/early eye field phenotype. This study identified a panel of signature transcripts that were differentially expressed at seven days of differentiation, between lines of low- and high-retinal propensity. Conclusions: This study provides a gene profile that identifies which hiPSC-derived cells have a good capability to generate retinal organoids. This allows for the analysis of retinal propensity by quantitative PCR within the first seven days of differentiation. Overall design: mRNA profiles from 15 hiPSC-derived cell lines were generated in triplicate at day 0 and day 7. Transcriptomic features of hiPSC-derived cells with a good capability to generate retinal organoids were identified.