Bionano Genomics, Inc. (NASDAQ:BNGO), today announced publication of a study using optical genome mapping (OGM) to investigate numerical and structural changes to two induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines, WTC-11 and Tuba1-GFP, during long-term culturing. This research provides scientific and practical support for the use of OGM workflows in regenerative medicine due to OGM’s ability to detect hundreds of structural variants (SVs), many of which had not been seen by other cytogenetic methods and which may impact the genomic integrity of iPSCs.
iPSCs have the potential to provide greater clinical impact to patients than stem cells while avoiding possible immunological rejection because they can be derived from the patient being treated. In order to be used for gene editing, iPSCs must be created and expanded in culture, opening the possibility for the accrual of chromosomal variants over time. In the study, published in Genes, the authors followed two cell lines over 150 days of continuous culture, or 50 passages, and found significant changes to the genome in both using OGM. Additionally, hundreds of SVs not found in the internal control database were also observed in both cell lines and accumulated over the course of the study, potentially impacting gene expression and cell survival. The authors also suggest that, because of the accumulation of chromosome changes over time and the unknown effects on iPSCs in therapy, culture times should be limited.
“Bionano is expanding into markets where OGM is an alternative workflow for cytogenetics in genetic diseases and cancer. In addition, we are driving adoption of OGM into the academic research community to enable novel discoveries connected to structural variations. This paper outlines the utility of OGM for pharmaceutical research and drug development, which is a segment of the genomics market that Bionano is also targeting,” commented Erik Holmlin, PhD, president and chief executive officer of Bionano Genomics.
This publication is available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/13/7/1157
