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Harnessing the potential of induced pluripotent stem cells for regenerative medicine

Nature Cell Biology volume 13, pages 497–505 (2011)Cite this article

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A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 June 2011

Abstract

The discovery of methods to convert somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) through expression of a small combination of transcription factors has raised the possibility of producing custom-tailored cells for the study and treatment of numerous diseases. Indeed, iPSCs have already been derived from patients suffering from a large variety of disorders. Here we review recent progress that has been made in establishing iPSC-based disease models, discuss associated technical and biological challenges, and highlight possible solutions to overcome these barriers. We believe that a better understanding of the molecular basis of pluripotency, cellular reprogramming and lineage-specific differentiation of iPSCs is necessary for progress in regenerative medicine.

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Figure 1: Schematic representation of the potential utility of iPSC technology in regenerative medicine.
Figure 2: Xenogeneic rat-mouse chimaera to produce entirely iPSC-derived rat pancreas.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Wu and G. Mostoslavsky for their insightful comments and critical reading of the manuscript and J. Gold for detailed discussion regarding the human ESC-derived oligodendrocyte clinical trial at Geron. This work was supported by grants from the NIH (OD003266 and HD058013 to K.H.; OD004411, HL081086, HL100408 to S.M.W.), the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (K.H. and S.M.W.), and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (to K.H.). We apologize to colleagues whose work we could not cite in this brief review article.

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  1. smwu@partners.org

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  1. Division of Cardiology, Sean M. Wu is at the Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, Massachusetts, USA and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA,

    Sean M. Wu

  2. USA; the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Konrad Hochedlinger is at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA; the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA,

    Konrad Hochedlinger

  3. the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA,

    Konrad Hochedlinger

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K.H. is an advisor to iPierian, Inc.

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Wu, S., Hochedlinger, K. Harnessing the potential of induced pluripotent stem cells for regenerative medicine. Nat Cell Biol 13, 497–505 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0511-497

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