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The potential of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to self-renew indefinitely and to differentiate virtually into any cell type in unlimited quantities makes them attractive for in-vitro disease modeling, drug screening, personalized medicine, and regenerative therapies. As the genome of iPSCs thoroughly reproduces that of the somatic cells from which they are derived, they may possess genetic abnormalities, which would seriously compromise their utility and safety. Genetic aberrations could be present in donor somatic cells and then transferred during iPSC generation, or they could occur as de novo mutations during reprogramming or prolonged cell culture. Therefore, to warrant safety of human iPSCs for clinical applications, analysis of genetic integrity, particularly during iPSC generation and differentiation, should be carried out on a regular basis. On the other hand, reprogramming of somatic cells to iPSCs requires profound modifications in the epigenetic landscape. Changes in chromatin structure by DNA methylations and histone tail modifications aim to reset the gene expression pattern of somatic cells to facilitate and establish self-renewal and pluripotency. However, residual epigenetic memory influences the iPSC phenotype, which may affect their application in disease therapeutics. The present review discusses the somatic cell origin, genetic stability, and epigenetic memory of iPSCs and their impact on basic and translational research.

In adult cardiomyocytes (CMs), the type 2 ryanodine receptor (RYR2) is an indispensable Ca 2+ release channel that ensures the integrity of excitation-contraction coupling, which is fundamental for every heartbeat. However, the role and importance of RYR2 during human embryonic cardiac development are still poorly understood. Here, we generated two human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based RYR2 knockout (RYR2 −/−) lines using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. We found that RYR2 −/−-iPSCs could differentiate into CMs with the efficiency similar to control-iPSCs (Ctrl-iPSCs); however, the survival of iPSC-CMs was markedly affected by the lack of functional RYR2. While Ctrl-iPSC-CMs exhibited regular Ca 2+ handling, we observed significantly reduced frequency and intense abnormalities of Ca 2+ transients in RYR2 −/−-iPSC-CMs. Ctrl-iPSC-CMs displayed sensitivity to extracellular Ca 2+ ([Ca 2+ ] o) and caffeine in a concentration-dependent manner, while RYR2 −/−-iPSC-CMs showed inconsistent reactions to [Ca 2+ ] o and were insensitive to caffeine, indicating there is no RYR2mediated Ca 2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Instead, compensatory mechanism for calcium handling in RYR2 −/−-iPSC-CMs is partially mediated by the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R). Similar to Ctrl-iPSC-CMs, SR Ca 2+ refilling in RYR2 −/−-iPSC-CMs is mediated by SERCA. Additionally, RYR2 −/−-iPSC-CMs showed a decreased beating rate and a reduced peak amplitude of L-type Ca 2+ current. These findings demonstrate that RYR2 is not required for CM lineage commitment but is important for CM survival and contractile function. IP3R-mediated Ca 2+ release is one of the major compensatory mechanisms for Ca 2+ cycling in human CMs with the RYR2 deficiency.

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