The Application of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Pathogenesis Study and Gene Therapy for Vascular Disorders: Current Progress and Future Challenges

Figure 1

Several types of easily available patient specimens and potential applications of the patient somatic cell-derived hiPSC-EC and hiPSC-SMC. hiPSC derived from the patients’ somatic cell such as renal tubular epithelial cell, hair follicle cells, and fibroblast are easily obtained, and the hiPSC derived from the disease-affected cells could be used for disease model and drug screening to study gene function and identify novel pathogenic pathways or therapeutic targets. The hiPSC-derived endothelial cells (hiPSC-EC) or smooth muscle cells (hiPSC-SMC) after gene modification may be an alternative source for cell therapy or tissue engineering repair.