Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Next Generation Cells for Tissue Regeneration

Abstract

More than two decades of in vitro experimentation supported by the data from experimental animal studies in both small as well as large experimental animal models have culminated into multiple clinical studies worldwide to assess their regenerative potential. Although the data generated from these studies have only met with cautious response from the researchers, efforts are still underway with the hope to refine the different aspects of cell-based therapy approach to develop it into an effective routine therapeutic intervention. Besides others, search for a cell type with optimal characteristics remains an area of intense research. Pluripotent stem cells in general, and induced pluripotent stem cells in particular have gained special attention of researchers due to their ability to adopt a morphofuntionally competent phenotype. They are being considered as surrogate embryonic stem cells albeit without moral and ethical issues of availability and having better immunological acceptability. We provide a head-to-head comparison of ESCs and iPSCs and an overview of stem cell therapy approach converging on the observed advantages of pluripotent stem cells during pre-clinical and clinical studies.