Recent technological updates and clinical applications of induced pluripotent stem cells

Abstract

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were first described in 2006 and have since emerged as a promising cell source for clinical applications. The rapid progression in iPSC technology is still ongoing and directed toward increasing the efficacy of iPSC production and reducing the immunogenic and tumorigenic potential of these cells. Enormous efforts have been made to apply iPSC-based technology in the clinic, for drug screening approaches and cell replacement therapy. Moreover, disease modeling using patient-specific iPSCs continues to expand our knowledge regarding the pathophysiology and prospective treatment of rare disorders. Furthermore, autologous stem cell therapy with patient-specific iPSCs shows great propensity for the minimization of immune reactions and the provision of a limitless supply of cells for transplantation. In this review, we discuss the recent updates in iPSC technology and the use of iPSCs in disease modeling and regenerative medicine.

Repair of cartilage defects in osteoarthritis rats with induced pluripotent stem cell derived chondrocytes

“…Cell regeneration seems a good way to regenerate cartilage tissue, and it has been driven by discovery of iPSCs. iPSCs can proliferate and differentiate into a variety of different lineages, and it can be applied to personalized therapies, which provide an intriguing alternative to the use of stem cells in regenerative medicine [24, 25]. …”

New markers for tracking endoderm induction and hepatocyte differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells

“…Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including both embryonic (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), represent an unlimited source of differentiated cell types and tissues for modeling human development and disease in vitro, for developing new cell-based therapeutics and for establishing new drug discovery and predictive toxicology platforms (Cherry and Daley, 2012;Diecke et al, 2014;Fox et al, 2014;Holmgren et al, 2014;Leung et al, 2013;Medine et al, 2013;Roelandt et al, 2013;Sjogren et al, 2014;Szkolnicka et al, 2014;Trounson et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2014). Translating this potential of stem cells into practice is, however, dependent on the availability of directed differentiation strategies that enable the efficient, reproducible and cost-effective generation of the lineage of interest.…”

CRISPR-Cas9: a promising tool for gene editing on induced pluripotent stem cells

“…Recent advances in stem cell technology are likely to provide great benefits to the clinical use of iPSCs in clinical applications [129]. …”