Induced pluripotent stem cells
Introduction
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) are a class of stem cells that are artificially derived from differentiated embryonic or adult tissues. Therapeutically, iPS cells hold the potential to be used to treat a patient with their own cells (i.e. bone marrow transplant, spinal cord injury repair).
Multiple strategies to generate iPS cells are being developed.
- Somatic cell nuclear transfer
- Embryonic stem cell fusion
- Nuclear reprogramming
Nuclear reprogramming
Based on previous studies, one research group set out to determine which genes are required to be expressed in order to generate/maintain embryonic stem cells.1 In a series of experiments it was determined that 4 factors are required to cause mouse fibroblasts to "dedifferentiate" into a stem-cell like state.
- Sox2
- Klf4
- Oct3/4
- c-myc
References
1. Takahashi K, Yamanaka S. Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors. Cell. 2006 Aug 25;126(4):663-76. Epub 2006 Aug 10. PMID: 16904174 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]