BACKGROUND Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have the capability to undergo self-renewal and differentiation into all somatic cell types. Since they can be produced through somatic cell reprogramming, which uses a defined set of transcription factors, iPS cells represent important sources of patient-specific cells for clinical applications. However, before these cells can be used in therapeu...

The innovation of reprogramming somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells provides a possible new approach to treat beta-thalassemia and other genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be made from these patients' somatic cells and the mutation in the beta-globin gene corrected by gene targeting, and the cells differentiated into hematopoietic c...

Human-induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells share the same key properties as embryonic stem cells, and may be generated from patient- or disease-specific sources, which makes them attractive for personalized medicine, drug screens, or cellular therapy. Long-term cultivation and maintenance of normal iPS cells in an undifferentiated self-renewing state is a major challenge. Our previous studies h...

The cloning of animals from adult cells has demonstrated that the developmental state of adult cells can be reprogrammed into that of embryonic cells by uncharacterized factors within the oocyte. More recently, transcription factors have been identified that can induce pluripotency in somatic cells without the use of oocytes, generating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. iPS cells provide a ...

UNLABELLED : Neural stem cells (NSCs) from embryonic or fetal/adult tissue sources have shown considerable promise in regenerative strategies for traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). However, there are limitations with their use related to the availability, immunogenicity, and uncertainty of the mechanisms involved. To address these issues, definitive NSCs derived from induced pluripotent stem (...

Recent findings suggest the possibility that tumors originate from cancer cells with stem cell properties. The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis provides an explanation for why existing cancer therapies often fail in eradicating highly malignant tumors and end with tumor recurrence. Although normal stem cells and CSCs both share the capacity for self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation, s...

Articular cartilage repair remains a challenge in the field of orthopedic medicine. Cell-based therapy for cartilage repair, such as autologous chondrocyte implantation, was established in the 1990s. However, the issue of the source from which the lesion-targeting cells are harvested remains a limitation of this approach as larger lesions require more cells for repair, and thus, more healthy ti...

Derivation of pluripotent stem cells from adult somatic tissues by reprogramming technology has opened new therapeutic possibilities. Current most efficient procedures for derivation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are based on the viral vectors, which represent the danger of insertional mutagenesis during incorporation of introduced genes into the host genome. To circumvent this proble...

Among the various species from which induced pluripotent stem cells have been derived, nonhuman primates (NHPs) have a unique role as preclinical models. Their relatedness to humans and similar physiology, including central nervous system, make them ideal for translational studies. We review here the progress made in deriving and characterizing iPS cell lines from different NHP species. We focu...

Human pluripotent stem cells have the potential to provide comprehensive model systems for the earliest stages of human ontogenesis. To serve in this capacity, these cells must undergo a targeted, stepwise differentiation process that follows a normal developmental timeline. Here we demonstrate the ability of both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to me...