Generation and Functional Characterization of Monocytes and Macrophages Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Monocytes and macrophages are essential for immune defense and tissue hemostasis. They are also the underlying trigger of many diseases. The availability of robust and short protocols to induce monocytes and macrophages from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) will benefit many applications of immune cells in biomedical research. Here, we describe a protocol to derive and functionally characterize these cells. Large numbers of hiPSC-derived monocytes (hiPSC-mono) could be generated in just 15 days. These monocytes were fully functional after cryopreservation and could be polarized to M1 and M2 macrophage subtypes. hiPSC-derived macrophages (iPSDMs) showed high phagocytotic uptake of bacteria, apoptotic cells, and tumor cells. The protocol was effective across multiple hiPSC lines. In summary, we developed a robust protocol to generate hiPSC-mono and iPSDMs which showed phenotypic features of macrophages and functional maturity in different bioassays.