Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Urine

Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Renal Proximal Tubular Cells with Only Two Transcription Factors, Oct4 and Sox2

“…Moreover, it is important to notice that in our hands the pt-iPSCs were generated in a rapid (in only 13 days) and efficient manner and displayed all typical hallmarks of pluripotency, including differentiation into cell types comprising the three germ layers as well as in vivo teratoma formation. Recently, Zhou et al (23) have shown the generation of iPSCs by a four-factor viral transduction, including Klf4 and c-Myc, upon isolation of different cell populations from urine. Thus, the presence of different cell populations, alongside the intrinsic stochastic nature of the reprogramming process, raises the possibility that the iPSCs originated from contaminant somatic cells, such as blood or squamous cells from the urethra and not necessarily from tubular renal cells.…”

Urine-derived induced pluripotent stem cells as a modeling tool to study rare human diseases

“…However, the ideal cell source would be obtained non-invasively, simple and costeffective to obtain, and obtained universally (from patients of any age, sex, ethnic group, or body type) (28). The first successful culture of urinary tract cells occurred in 1972 (29), and that feat was repeated by many researchers (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37).…”

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Kidney

“…It is of great interest, therefore, that in this issue of JASN, Song et al 22 and Zhou et al 23 demonstrate that human kidney cells are agreeable to reprogramming, thus leading the way to developing tissue-specific iPSC therapy for kidney disease.…”

“…In the second study in this issue of JASN, Zhou et al 23 found that kidney cells collected from the urine are also a suitable source for reprogramming studies. For most cell types, including fibroblasts, the efficiency of iPSC production is low, so having a sufficient number of starting cells is vital.…”

“…Although iPSCs have been made from adult cells, it is more efficient when fetal or neonatal cells are used. Nevertheless, Zhou et al 23 demonstrate that cells from the urine are easy to collect and expand, resulting in the establishment of iPSC lines from a single collection. Efficiencies ranged from a low of 0.01% for cells from a 65-year-old to 4% from a younger patient.…”