Advances in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Technologies
1Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Manipal University Branch Campus, Bangalore-560 071, India
2Buck Institute for Age Research, Novato, CA, USA
3Life Technologies, Frederick, MD, USA
4Monash Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Advances in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Technologies
Description
The year 2006 marked the beginning of a new era in regenerative biology when Yamanaka and colleagues successfully reprogrammed mouse and human fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells with qualities strikingly identical with embryonic stem (ES) cells. This breakthrough enriched the armamentarium of regenerative medicine by introducing autologous pluripotent progenitor pools for drug discovery, cell therapy, and basic research. iPS cell technology which uses defined transcription factors to reprogram somatic cells into pluripotent state also offers a significant technical simplicity and enables generation of patient- and disease- specific stem cells with reduced ethical concerns. Despite functional similarity between iPS and ES cells, some important differences were also identified and remain to be characterized. Meanwhile, new methods of generating iPS cells with minimal or no exogenous genetic modifications to cells including direct conditioning of cells to differentiated fates have advanced rapidly. Any improvement in iPS cell-based technology will ensure robust applications across discovery science, offering opportunities for the development of personalized diagnostics and targeted therapeutics. The field of regenerative medicine is primed to adopt and incorporate iPS cell-based advancements as next generation stem cell platforms.
However, there remain a great deal to learn about iPS cell safety, the reprogramming mechanisms, and better ways to direct a specific reprogramming process. The flourish of this field heavily depends on the success of in vitro disease modeling and establishment of new culture conditions including identification of new small molecules that modulate reprogramming. Attempts to fine tune this cutting-edge technology by avoiding the employment of retroviral/lentiviral vectors as well as optimizing the reprogramming cocktail are progressing at an astonishing pace worldwide. Therefore, we are optimistic that this could be an area where novelty and therapeutic significance would never be over rated. We believe that this special issue will provide a lucid picture of the bright future for this technology through expert perspectives. The journal “Stem Cell International” is uniquely poised to deal with this new age of stem cell research. To demonstrate this fact, we invite researchers to contribute original research articles, and reviews which will stimulate the future investigations. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Newer and safer methods to make iPS cells
- Novel sources to generate iPS cells
- Molecular networks underpinning pluripotency
- Lineage-specific differentiation and characterization
- Epigenetic mechanisms
- Regulatory and safety aspects
- Drug discovery models and studies on toxicity testing
- Cell therapy applications
- Personalized medicine aspects
Articles published in this special issue will not be subject to the journal's Article Processing Charges.
Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: