Induced pluripotent stem cells, also known as iPS cells or iPSCs, were first reported in 2006 and are being studied for their potential use in regenerative medicine, while STAP cells were withdrawn after the original papers were retracted. The IPS cells are lab created cells with the power to differentiate as great as the embryonic stem cell lines. In 2006, scientists identified four key genes in embryonic stemcells that empowered them to regenerate and differentiate into distinct kinds of somatic cells. Scientists essentially took skin cells and reprogrammed them into iPS cells.[1]
What are iPS Cells?
IPSCs cells share many features with embryonic stem cells. Research suggests that a protein called SIRT1 helps protect the integrity of the genome during cell reprogramming. The first human transplant of cells made from induced pluripotent stem cells took place in Japan in 2014, when a patient with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) received retinal cells grown from her own iPS cells. iPS cells are made by reprogramming adult (somatic) cells, such as skin or blood cells, by introducing a small set of genes, for example with viruses or plasmid DNA. An induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell can be grown from virtually any tissue in any human (old or young) and is genetically altered to behave similar to that of embryonic cells.[2] Induced pluripotent cells (iPS cells) were at one stage “non-pluripotent” cells. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which come from donated embryos left over from IVF, are used mainly in regenerative medicine research and early clinical trials, and both can be stored through cryo cell banking.
The Basic Types of Stem Cells
Another way to generate embryonic stem cells is somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), in which the nucleus from one of the donor’s adult cells is placed into an egg cell; this is a different method from making iPS cells.[3] DnA or biological substance must be donated from living donors. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are made by introducing pluripotency genes into adult cells. Cells grown from iPSCs are being studied in research and early clinical trials for conditions such as ALS, Brain Injuries, Ataxia disease and Spinal cord damage, and for treating heart disease, including research toward CHF therapy, but these uses are not yet established treatments.
Published Clinical Citations
[1] ^ Noisa, Parinya, Carina Lund, Kartiek Kanduri, Riikka Lund, Harri Lähdesmäki, Riitta Lahesmaa, Karolina Lundin, et al. 2014. Notch signaling regulates the differentiation of neural crest from human pluripotent stem cells. Journal of cell science, no. Pt 9 (February 25). doi:10.1242/jcs.145755. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24569875
[2] ^ Prè, Deborah, Michael W Nestor, Andrew A Sproul, Samson Jacob, Peter Koppensteiner, Vorapin Chinchalongporn, Matthew Zimmer, Ai Yamamoto, Scott A Noggle, and Ottavio Arancio. 2014. A time course analysis of the electrophysiological properties of neurons differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). PloS one, no. 7 (July 29). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103418. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25072157
[3] ^ Tubsuwan, Alisa, Soumeya Abed, Annette Deichmann, Melanie D Kardel, Cynthia Bartholomä, Alice Cheung, Olivier Negre, et al. 2013. Parallel assessment of globin lentiviral transfer in induced pluripotent stem cells and adult hematopoietic stem cells derived from the same transplanted β-thalassemia patient. Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio), no. 9. doi:10.1002/stem.1436. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23712774