Somatic stem cells have been used as a regenerative medicine tool to treat diseases like leukemia for decades, but they are limited in their ability to self-renew and differentiate. A better alternative, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), has the ability to generate cells from all three germ layers and avoid tissue rejection as well as bypass the ethical concerns related to embryonic stem cells. In 2006, Takahashi and Yamanaka discovered that only four genes were required to induce pluripotency: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM). Since then, pluripotency has been induced with OSKM most effectively by transfection or transduction. However, both are difficult to control and can have undesirable off-target effects, e.g. random mutations in the genome. A safer approach to inducing pluripotency is exogenous delivery of OSKM proteins using cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). Classically, CPP-mediated delivery has been inefficient because of poor penetration and entrapment in endosomes. Our lab’s novel CPP-adaptor system overcomes entrapment by relying on the cell’s natural calcium flux. A widely used CPP, TAT, is covalently linked to a calmodulin protein, creating TAT-CaM. The protein of interest that acts as a cargo, is engineered to have a calmodulin binding site (CBS). This allows TAT-CaM to bind cargo proteins outside the cell in the presence of Ca2+, but once they are endocytosed by the cell, the cargo can dissociate from TAT-CaM since intracellular Ca2+ concentration is low. The goals of the project were: (1) to induce pluripotency by delivering CBS-Oct4 with the TAT-CaM system; (2) to optimize reprogramming by addition of Sox2, and Klf4 to Oct4 and TAT-CaM; and (3) to combine OSK delivery with small molecule inhibitors to improve efficiency. Pluripotency was checked by using alkaline phosphatase staining and the iPSC colonies were cultured and expanded over multiple passages. Finally, stem cell state was further assayed by performing flow cytometry and immunostaining for Nanog, Oct4, and Sox2. Successful trials of this method could potentially lead to major changes in approaches to regenerative medicine.
","abstract_html":"<p>Somatic stem cells have been used as a regenerative medicine tool to treat diseases like leukemia for decades, but they are limited in their ability to self-renew and differentiate. A better alternative, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), has the ability to generate cells from all three germ layers and avoid tissue rejection as well as bypass the ethical concerns related to embryonic stem cells. In 2006, Takahashi and Yamanaka discovered that only four genes were required to induce pluripotency: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM). Since then, pluripotency has been induced with OSKM most effectively by transfection or transduction. However, both are difficult to control and can have undesirable off-target effects, e.g. random mutations in the genome. A safer approach to inducing pluripotency is exogenous delivery of OSKM proteins using cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). Classically, CPP-mediated delivery has been inefficient because of poor penetration and entrapment in endosomes. Our lab’s novel CPP-adaptor system overcomes entrapment by relying on the cell’s natural calcium flux. A widely used CPP, TAT, is covalently linked to a calmodulin protein, creating TAT-CaM. The protein of interest that acts as a cargo, is engineered to have a calmodulin binding site (CBS). This allows TAT-CaM to bind cargo proteins outside the cell in the presence of Ca<sup>2+</sup>, but once they are endocytosed by the cell, the cargo can dissociate from TAT-CaM since intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup> concentration is low. The goals of the project were: (1) to induce pluripotency by delivering CBS-Oct4 with the TAT-CaM system; (2) to optimize reprogramming by addition of Sox2, and Klf4 to Oct4 and TAT-CaM; and (3) to combine OSK delivery with small molecule inhibitors to improve efficiency. Pluripotency was checked by using alkaline phosphatase staining and the iPSC colonies were cultured and expanded over multiple passages. Finally, stem cell state was further assayed by performing flow cytometry and immunostaining for Nanog, Oct4, and Sox2. Successful trials of this method could potentially lead to major changes in approaches to regenerative medicine. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Oja, Laura-Maria"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Chemical Sciences (MSCB)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Chemistry","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jonathan L. McMurry","Martin L. Hudson","Carol Chrestensen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-05-04T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-05-04T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:42Z","subjects":["Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells","Cell-Penetrating Peptides","Regenerative Medicine","Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins","Biotechnology","Cell Biology","Chemistry","Developmental Biology","Genetics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mscs_etd/32","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jonathan L. McMurry","Martin L. Hudson","Carol Chrestensen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Oja, Laura-Maria"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-05-02T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemistry"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Chemical Sciences (MSCB)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells","Cell-Penetrating Peptides","Regenerative Medicine","Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins","Biotechnology","Cell Biology","Chemistry","Developmental Biology","Genetics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mscs_etd/32"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Somatic stem cells have been used as a regenerative medicine tool to treat diseases like leukemia for decades, but they are limited in their ability to self-renew and differentiate. A better alternative, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), has the ability to generate cells from all three germ layers and avoid tissue rejection as well as bypass the ethical concerns related to embryonic stem cells. In 2006, Takahashi and Yamanaka discovered that only four genes were required to induce pluripotency: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM). Since then, pluripotency has been induced with OSKM most effectively by transfection or transduction. However, both are difficult to control and can have undesirable off-target effects, e.g. random mutations in the genome. A safer approach to inducing pluripotency is exogenous delivery of OSKM proteins using cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). Classically, CPP-mediated delivery has been inefficient because of poor penetration and entrapment in endosomes. Our lab’s novel CPP-adaptor system overcomes entrapment by relying on the cell’s natural calcium flux. A widely used CPP, TAT, is covalently linked to a calmodulin protein, creating TAT-CaM. The protein of interest that acts as a cargo, is engineered to have a calmodulin binding site (CBS). This allows TAT-CaM to bind cargo proteins outside the cell in the presence of Ca2+, but once they are endocytosed by the cell, the cargo can dissociate from TAT-CaM since intracellular Ca2+ concentration is low. The goals of the project were: (1) to induce pluripotency by delivering CBS-Oct4 with the TAT-CaM system; (2) to optimize reprogramming by addition of Sox2, and Klf4 to Oct4 and TAT-CaM; and (3) to combine OSK delivery with small molecule inhibitors to improve efficiency. Pluripotency was checked by using alkaline phosphatase staining and the iPSC colonies were cultured and expanded over multiple passages. Finally, stem cell state was further assayed by performing flow cytometry and immunostaining for Nanog, Oct4, and Sox2. Successful trials of this method could potentially lead to major changes in approaches to regenerative medicine.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["USING A NOVEL CELL- PENETRATING PEPTIDE TECHNOLOGY TO INDUCE PLURIPOTENCY"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jonathan L. McMurry","Martin L. Hudson","Carol Chrestensen"],"dc:creator":["Oja, Laura-Maria"],"dc:date.available":["2025-05-02T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Somatic stem cells have been used as a regenerative medicine tool to treat diseases like leukemia for decades, but they are limited in their ability to self-renew and differentiate. A better alternative, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), has the ability to generate cells from all three germ layers and avoid tissue rejection as well as bypass the ethical concerns related to embryonic stem cells. In 2006, Takahashi and Yamanaka discovered that only four genes were required to induce pluripotency: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM). Since then, pluripotency has been induced with OSKM most effectively by transfection or transduction. However, both are difficult to control and can have undesirable off-target effects, e.g. random mutations in the genome. A safer approach to inducing pluripotency is exogenous delivery of OSKM proteins using cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). Classically, CPP-mediated delivery has been inefficient because of poor penetration and entrapment in endosomes. Our lab’s novel CPP-adaptor system overcomes entrapment by relying on the cell’s natural calcium flux. A widely used CPP, TAT, is covalently linked to a calmodulin protein, creating TAT-CaM. The protein of interest that acts as a cargo, is engineered to have a calmodulin binding site (CBS). This allows TAT-CaM to bind cargo proteins outside the cell in the presence of Ca2+, but once they are endocytosed by the cell, the cargo can dissociate from TAT-CaM since intracellular Ca2+ concentration is low. The goals of the project were: (1) to induce pluripotency by delivering CBS-Oct4 with the TAT-CaM system; (2) to optimize reprogramming by addition of Sox2, and Klf4 to Oct4 and TAT-CaM; and (3) to combine OSK delivery with small molecule inhibitors to improve efficiency. Pluripotency was checked by using alkaline phosphatase staining and the iPSC colonies were cultured and expanded over multiple passages. Finally, stem cell state was further assayed by performing flow cytometry and immunostaining for Nanog, Oct4, and Sox2. Successful trials of this method could potentially lead to major changes in approaches to regenerative medicine.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mscs_etd/32"],"dc:subject":["Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells","Cell-Penetrating Peptides","Regenerative Medicine","Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins","Biotechnology","Cell Biology","Chemistry","Developmental Biology","Genetics"],"dc:title":["USING A NOVEL CELL- PENETRATING PEPTIDE TECHNOLOGY TO INDUCE PLURIPOTENCY"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemistry"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Chemical Sciences (MSCB)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:42Z"}