An introduction to induced pluripotent stem cells

Abstract

Summary Recent landmark studies show that it is now possible to convert somatic cells, such as skin fibroblasts and B lymphocytes, into pluripotent stem cells that closely resemble embryonic stem cells. These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be generated without using human embryos or oocytes, thus bypassing some of the ethical issues that have limited the use of human embryonic stems (hES) cells. Additionally, they can be derived from the patient to be treated, thereby overcoming problems of immunological rejection associated with the use of allogeneic hES cell derived progenitors. Whilst these patient‐specific iPS cells have great clinical potential, their immediate utility is likely to be in drug screening and for understanding the disease process. This review discusses the promise of iPS cells as well as the challenges to their use in the clinic.

Reprogramming and Carcinogenesis—Parallels and Distinctions

“…CSC and iPS cells exhibit several striking similarities that we summarize in Table III, furthermore iPS cells form teratomas when injected into tissues (Hanley et al, 2010;Miura et al, 2009). Moreover, differentiated tissues that originate from iPS cells have an increased propensity to form tumors.…”

“…Increased propensity to form teratomas (Hanley et al, 2010;Miura et al, 2009) Forms tumors by definition (Galli et al, 2004;Ribatti, 2012) p53 p53 loss increases pluripotency (Hanna et al, 2009;Hong et al, 2009;Kawamura et al, 2009) p53 loss increases tumor initiation frequency (Godar et al, 2008; Senescence Premature senescence (Feng et al, 2010) Reduced senescence (Karimi-Busheri et al, 2010;Sabisz and Skladanowski, 2009) …”

In vivo reprogramming in inflammatory bowel disease

“…The reason for this observation is unclear, but likely has something to do with a stochastic nature of the process. 87 Therefore, a similar phenomenon will likely be seen during and after in vivo reprogramming. In addition, when delivering the reprogramming genes into the target cells, high efficiency of transfection is extremely important for efficient reprogramming.…”

Stem cell therapies in age-related neurodegenerative diseases and stroke

“…Transplantation of iPSCs into a syngeneic recipient overcomes the negative side-effects of immunogenicity (Isobe et al, 2014). As iPSCs can be produced without oocytes or embryos, ethical concerns that restrict the application of ESCs do not apply (Hanley et al, 2010). iPSCs provide a valuable avenue for autologous cell transplantation with no risk of graft rejection (Behari and Singhal, 2011).…”