Robust reprogramming of Ataxia-Telangiectasia patient and carrier erythroid cells to induced pluripotent stem cells

• Blood erythroid cells represent a robust source of A-T and carrier iPS cells
• A-T iPS cells recapitulate defects in radiation responses of A-T somatic cells
• ATM is dispensable for chromosomal and telomere maintenance in iPS cells
• Blood-derived A-T iPS cells differentiate along the neural lineage
• Mice haploinsufficient for Atm show no defects in vivo teratoma formation

Biallelic mutations in ATM result in the neurodegenerative syndrome Ataxia-Telangiectasia, while ATM haploinsufficiency increases the risk of cancer and other diseases. Previous studies revealed low reprogramming efficiency from A-T and carrier fibroblasts, a barrier to iPS cell-based modeling and regeneration. Here, we tested the feasibility of employing circulating erythroid cells, a compartment no or minimally affected in A-T, for the generation of A-T and carrier iPS cells. Our results indicate that episomal expression of Yamanaka factors plus BCL-xL in erythroid cells results in highly efficient iPS cell production in feeder-free, xeno-free conditions. Moreover, A-T iPS cells generated with this protocol maintain long-term replicative potential, stable karyotypes, re-elongated telomeres and capability to differentiate along the neural lineage in vitro and to form teratomas in vivo. Finally, we find that haploinsufficiency for ATM does not limit reprogramming from human erythroid cells or in vivo teratoma formation in the mouse.

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