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Review
. 2015 Oct 19;370(1680):20140367.
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0367.

Present and future challenges of induced pluripotent stem cells

Mari Ohnuki  1 , Kazutoshi Takahashi  2
Affiliations
Review

Present and future challenges of induced pluripotent stem cells

Mari Ohnuki et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. .

Abstract

Growing old is our destiny. However, the mature differentiated cells making up our body can be rejuvenated to an embryo-like fate called pluripotency which is an ability to differentiate into all cell types by enforced expression of defined transcription factors. The discovery of this induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology has opened up unprecedented opportunities in regenerative medicine, disease modelling and drug discovery. In this review, we introduce the applications and future perspectives of human iPSCs and we also show how iPSC technology has evolved along the way.

Keywords: cancer; epigenetics; induced pluripotent stem cells; regenerative medicine; reprogramming.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Cell fate changes on Waddington's epigenetic landscape. Pluripotent stem cells (top, yellow) can commit to various somatic lineages (bottom left, green) via a progenitor state (middle left, light blue) during embryonic development and in vitro differentiation. Direct reprogramming, or transdifferentiation, using tissue-specific transcription factors convert the fate of lineage-committed cells (bottom left, green) to another differentiated fate (bottom centre, pink), bypassing the need for a pluripotent state. There are several ways of reprogramming lineage-committed cells (bottom right, purple) toward pluripotency (top, yellow). Adapted, with permission, from Waddington [7]. (Online version in colour.)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Human iPSCs for clinical use. A phase contrast image of human iPSCs maintained in chemical defined xenofree medium on laminin 511 E8-coated tissue culture plate. The scale bar indicates 100 µm.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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