Induced pluripotent stem cells: developmental biology to regenerative medicine

Abstract

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are somatic cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic stem-cell-like state. This technology enables us to study the molecular mechanisms of development and disease processes, and provides a strategy for individualized diagnostics and therapy. In this Review, Timothy Nelson and colleagues describe the steps involved in bioengineering somatic cells to achieve pluripotency, allowing their differentiation into cardiomyocytes or any other cell type. Clinical applications of iPS cells, including treatment of cardiovascular conditions, are also discussed. Nuclear reprogramming of somatic cells with ectopic stemness factors to bioengineer pluripotent autologous stem cells signals a new era in regenerative medicine. The study of developmental biology has provided a roadmap for cardiac differentiation from embryonic tissue formation to adult heart muscle rejuvenation. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of stem-cell-derived cardiogenesis enables the reproducible generation, isolation, and monitoring of progenitors that have the capacity to recapitulate embryogenesis and differentiate into mature cardiac tissue. With the advent of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology, patient-specific stem cells provide a reference point to systematically decipher cardiogenic differentiation through discrete stages of development. Interrogation of iPS cells and their progeny from selected cohorts of patients is an innovative approach towards uncovering the molecular mechanisms of disease. Thus, the principles of cardiogenesis can now be applied to regenerative medicine in order to optimize personalized therapeutics, diagnostics, and discovery-based science for the development of novel clinical applications.