Just how tumorigenic are iPS cells? The field really doesn’t know at this point. However, a steady stream of papers have raised red flag after red flag about genomic and epigenomic alterations/mutations that are linked to cancer. Of course, then there is the fact that all the genetic changes actually used to make reprogrammed cells […]
Secret Not so Secret Recipe for Safer iPS cells Read More »
A growing body of evidence has convincingly argued that iPS cells contain numerous abnormalities at the genetic and epigenetic levels. Often these changes have links to the machinery in cells that is responsible for cancer. As a result, many in the stem cell field have raised the notion that iPS cells may never be able
New papers support growing serious safety concerns about iPS cells Read More »
It’s been more than 4 years since Shinya Yamanaka published the remarkable finding that his lab could transform or “reprogram” regular cells called fibroblasts into a very unique state that was quite similar to that of embryonic stem cells (ESC). Yamanaka called these new cells “iPS cells” for induced pluripotent stem cells. iPS cells Since
The Inside Scoop on iPS cells early in 2011 Read More »
Could iPS cells replace ES cells? A new paper is out from a team at The Salk lead by Joseph Ecker that the methylomes of many different human iPS cells. Their conclusion is that while iPS cells and ES cells are generally very similar in terms of the global portions of the genomes that are
Could iPS cells replace ES cells? Read More »
Yesterday I wrote about how difficult it is to tell different cell lines apart, including normal stem cells and cancer stem cells, especially since some accumulate accumulate oncogenic mutations that may make them seem more similar. A new paper is coming out that makes this case on a genomic level. Tomorrow’s Cell Stem Cell edition
Devil in the details: small oncogenic lesions in iPS cells & ESC Read More »
Sheng Ding’s lab reports today in Cell Stem Cell (you can read it here) that they have replaced all genetic factors in a new iPS cell reprogramming method except Oct4. The other factors were replaced by chemical compounds. Thus, we continue a major transition in the iPS cell field away from genes and toward chemicals.
From genes to chemicals: iPS cell field, reprogramming in transition Read More »
If IPS cells are not ready for prime time, it is probably due to these three critical challenges for these amazing cells. TUMORIGENICITY Those of us who work with IPS cells are very excited about their potential for use in regenerative medicine therapies. One serious hurdle we have talked about in the past is tumorigenicity.
Not ready for prime time: the three critical challenges for IPS cells Read More »
UPDATE: A second recent study, this one in Nature Genetics has found a novel genetic link between the immune system and Parkinson’s Disease. The authors were screening for genomic variants unique to Parkinson’s patients, finding known ones but also a novel linkage. The link was with the HLA region, known to play a key role
Parkinson’s Disease, promising new results on iPS cells Read More »
Update in 2020: Wow, a lot has changed since this post almost 10 years ago, but Cell Stem Cell remains the main publisher of IPS cell articles still. The young iPSC field has published a truly massive number of papers in just 4 years. Searching ISI Web of Knowledge for papers with titles reflecting iPSC
Striking iPS cell research publishing trends: what do they mean? Read More »
Update in 2020: It seems now after all these years that the consensus in the now more mature field is that IPSCs and ESCs are nearly identical in most cases, and both have some of the same translational challenges such as teratoma-forming activity. It’s interesting to read this post from nearly 10 years ago and
iPS cells coming into focus: not quite so similar to ESC after all Read More »