Successful reprogramming of differentiated human somatic cells into a pluripotent state would allow creation of patient- and disease-specific stem cells. We previously reported generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, capable of germline transmission, from mouse somatic cells by transduction of four defined transcription factors. Here, we demonstrate the generation of iPS cells from adult human dermal fibroblasts with the same four factors: Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. Human iPS cells were similar to human embryonic stem (ES) cells in morphology, proliferation, surface antigens, gene expression, epigenetic status of pluripotent cell-specific genes, and telomerase activity. Furthermore, these cells could differentiate into cell types of the three germ layers in vitro and in teratomas. These findings demonstrate that iPS cells can be generated from adult human fibroblasts.
We evaluated the teratoma-forming propensity of secondary neurospheres (SNS) generated from 36 mouse induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines derived in 11 different ways. Teratoma-formation of SNS from embryonic fibroblast-derived iPS cells was similar to that of SNS from embryonic stem (ES) cells. In contrast, SNS from iPS cells derived from different adult tissues varied substantially in their teratoma-forming propensity, which correlated with the persistence of undifferentiated cells.
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