Generation of exocrine pancreatic cells from plucked human hair derived induced pluripotent stem cells

Human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells can be generated from easily accessible tissues such as skin or plucked hair. In particular keratinocytes can be reprogrammed faster and more efficient than fibroblasts. In case of applying this tool to patients who are classified into a disease group, it enables the generation of disease-specific hiPS cells. iPS cells have proven to be a significant tool to elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms in various diseases such as diabetes, blood disorders, defined neurological disorders and genetic liver diseases. However, differentiation of hiPS cells towards the pancreatic lineage remains inefficient and variable. Moreover, current protocols are mostly aiming to generate endocrine cells while exocrine differentiation protocols remain elusive. Herein, we report the generation of plucked human hair derived hiPS cells from healthy donors. We successfully applied a novel and stepwise pancreatic differentiation protocol aiming to generate exocrine pancreatic cells. This set up will provide the basis for future studies dissecting the pathophysiology of exocrine pancreatic “diseases in a dish” in a patient-specific context.