Year 1

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Biorepository is operated by the Coriell Institute for Medical Research and is a critical component of the CIRM Human Stem Cell Initiative. The overall goal of this initiative is to generate, for world-wide use by non-profit and for-profit entities, high quality, disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These cells are derived from existing tissues such as blood or skin, and are genetically manipulated in the laboratory to change into cells that resemble embryonic stem cells. iPSCs can be grown indefinitely in the Petri dish and have the remarkable capability to be converted into most of the major cell types in the body including neurons, heart cells, and liver cells. This ability makes iPSCs an exceptional resource for disease modeling as well as for drug screening. The expectation is that these cells will be a major benefit to the process for understanding prevalent, genetically complex diseases and in developing innovative therapeutics.
The Coriell CIRM iPSC Biorepository, located at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, CA, is funded through a competitive grant award to Coriell from CIRM and is managed by Mr. Matt Self under the supervision of the Program Director, Dr. Steven Madore, Director of Molecular Biology at Coriell. The Biorepository will receive biospecimens consisting of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and skin biopsies obtained from donors recruited by seven Tissue Collector grant awardees. These biospecimens will serve as the starting material for iPSC derivation by Cellular Dynamics, Inc (CDI). Under a contractual agreement with Coriell, CDI will expand each iPSC line to generate sufficient aliquots of high quality cryopreserved cells for distribution via the Coriell on-line catalogue. Aliquots of frozen cell lines and iPSCs will be stored in liquid nitrogen vapor in storage units at the Buck Institute with back-up aliquots stored in a safe off-site location.
Renovation and construction of the Biorepository began at the Buck Institute in late January. The Biorepository Manger was hired March 1 and after installation of cryogenic storage vessels and alarm validation, the first biospecimens were received on April 30, 2014. Additionally, Coriell has developed a Clinical Information Management System (CIMS) for storing all clinical and demographic data associated with enrolled subjects. Tissue Collectors utilize CIMS via a web interface to upload and edit the subject demographic and clinical information that will ultimately be made available, along with the iPSCs, via Coriell’s on-line catalogue
As of November 1 specimens representing a total of 725 unique individuals have been received at the Biorepository. These samples include PBMCs obtained from 550 unique individuals, skin biopsies from 72 unique individuals, and 103 primary dermal fibroblast cultures previously prepared in the laboratories of the CIRM Tissue Collectors. A total of 280 biospecimen samples have been delivered to CDI for the purpose of iPSC derivation. The Biorepository is anticipating delivery of the first batches of iPSCs for distribution in early 2015. These lines, along with the associated clinical data, will become available to scientists via the on-line Coriell catalogue. The CIRM Coriell iPSC Biorepository will ensure safe long-term storage and distribution of high quality iPSCs.