A treatment for intractable diseases is expected to be the replacement of damaged tissues with products from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Target cell purification is a critical step for realizing hiPSC-based therapy. Here, we found that hiPSC-derived ocular cell types exhibited unique adhesion specificities and growth characteristics on distinct E8 fragments of laminin isoforms (LNE8s): hiPSC-derived corneal epithelial cells (iCECs) and other non-CECs rapidly adhered preferentially to LN332/411/511E8 and LN211E8, respectively, through differential expression of laminin-binding integrins. Furthermore, LN332E8 promoted epithelial cell proliferation but not that of the other eye-related cells, leading to non-CEC elimination by cell competition. Combining these features with magnetic sorting, highly pure iCEC sheets were fabricated. Thus, we established a simple method for isolating iCECs from various hiPSC-derived cells without using fluorescence-activated cell sorting. This study will facilitate efficient manufacture of iCEC sheets for corneal disease treatment and provide insights into target cell-specific scaffold selection.

难治性疾病的一种治疗方法是用人类诱导的多能干细胞（hiPSC）的产品替代受损的组织。靶细胞纯化是实现基于hiPSC的治疗的关键步骤。在这里，我们发现，hiPSC衍生的眼细胞类型在层粘连蛋白亚型（LNE8s）的不同E8片段上表现出独特的粘附特异性和生长特性：hiPSC衍生的角膜上皮细胞（iCEC）和其他非CEC迅速优先粘附于LN332 / 411 / 511E8和LN211E8分别通过层粘连蛋白结合整联蛋白的差异表达来实现。此外，LN332E8促进上皮细胞增殖，但不促进其他与眼睛相关的细胞的增殖，从而导致细胞竞争导致非CEC消除。将这些功能与磁性分选相结合，制造出了高纯度的iCEC薄板。因此，我们建立了一种无需使用荧光激活细胞分选方法即可从各种hiPSC衍生细胞中分离iCEC的简单方法。这项研究将有助于有效生产用于角膜疾病治疗的iCEC床单，并为靶细胞特异性支架的选择提供见识。