Induced pluripotent stem cells

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are specialised somatic cells, which have been genetically modified by injection of DNA or transcription factors to behave like ESC. iPSCs raise high hopes for future therapy, as they eliminate the risk of immune rejection by the patient, however, due to the novel nature of the technology and the not well understood process of reprogramming, unfortunately iPSC therapy is only theoretical at the moment. A way to improve iPSC safety needs to be found, as sometimes after genetic modification iPSCs have been shown to form tumours. (Liang et al., 2013)

Figure 7 illustrates the potential therapeutic applications of ESCs and SSCs.

Figure 7 Pluripotent ESC types and multipotent adult stem cell and pathological disorders that might benefit from ESC and SSC therapies. Abbreviations: BASCs, bronchioalveolar stem cells; bESCs, bulge epithelial stem cells; CESCs, corneal epithelial stem cells; CSCs, cardiac stem cells; eNCSCs, epidermal neural crest stem cells; ESCs, embryonic stem cells; EPC, endothelial progenitor cell; HOCs, hepatic oval cells; HSCs, hematopoetic stem cells; KSCs, keratinocyte stem cells; MSCs, mesenchymal stem cells; NSCs, neuronal stem cells; PSCs, pancreatic stem cells; RSCs, retinal stem cells; SKPs, skin-derived precursors. (Mimeault et al., 2007)

Дата добавления: 2015-08-18