摘要
With their capability to undergo unlimited self-renewal and to differentiate into all cell types in the body,in-duced pluripotent stem cells(iPSCs),reprogrammed from somatic cells of human patients with defined fac-tors,hold promise for regenerative medicine because they can provide a renewable source of autologous cells for cell therapy without the concern for immune rejection.In addition,iPSCs provide a unique opportu-nity to model human diseases with complex genetic traits,and a panel of human diseases have been suc-cessfully modeled in vitro by patient-specific iPSCs.Despite these progresses,recent studies have raised the concern for genetic and epigenetic abnormalities of iPSCs that could contribute to the immunogenicity of some cells differentiated from iPSCs.The oncogenic potential of iPSCs is further underscored by the find-ings that the critical tumor suppressor p53,known as the guardian of the genome,suppresses induced pluripotency.Therefore,the clinic application of iPSCs will require the optimization of the reprogramming technology to minimize the genetic and epigenetic ab-normalities associated with induced pluripotency.
基金
supported by a grant from California Institute for Re-generative Medicine(ET-01277)to Y.X.
