Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells—Derived Stem Cells: A Promising Tool for Disease Modeling
Stem cells possess potential to undergo self-renewability giving rise to any cell type in the body known as pluripotency.
This process, also known as differentiation, through which stem
cells undergo several morphologic and genetic changes resulting
in daughter cell lineages.
The end point lineage depends on the growth and differentiation induction factors or proteins added to in vitro stem cell culture.
These stem cells can be of embryonic source (embryonic stem cells (ESCs)) derived from the inner cell mass of embryo or induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) which
are produced from reprogrammed somatic cells in the body.
In
this commentary, we will focus on iPSCs and their contribution to
disease modeling in the context of reproductive disorders.
Reprogramming of adult somatic cells into iPSCs is a valuable tool holding a promise for regenerative and personalized medicine in the future.
Introduction of pluripotency transcription factors or genes Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc into somatic cells in order to reprogram or induce pluripotency ability in the resulting iPSCs.
This pioneer work was first discovered and reported by Yamanaka and colleagues3
which revolutionized the medical and
scientific world.
This novel idea devised a way to not only reprogram somatic cells into iPSC with a remarkable pluripotency potential same as ESCs, but also paved a path to generate iPSCs from
subjects with diseases carrying gene mutations in order to model a disease.
Gynecol Obstet Res Open J. 2022; 8(1): 19-20. doi: 10.17140/GOROJ-8-158
