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Stem cells and interspecies chimaeras

Nature volume 540, pages 51–59 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Chimaeras are both monsters of the ancient imagination and a long-established research tool. Recent advances, particularly those dealing with the identification and generation of various kinds of stem cells, have broadened the repertoire and utility of mammalian interspecies chimaeras and carved out new paths towards understanding fundamental biology as well as potential clinical applications.

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Figure 1: Chimaeras generated from cultured stem cells.
Figure 2: Strategies to improve interspecies chimaerism with human stem cells.
Figure 3: Potential application of interspecies chimaeras with human stem cells.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all our laboratory members and collaborators, including the teams of J. M. Campistol, P. Guillen, E. Martinez and P. Ross for their comments and dedicated work that have greatly contributed to the ideas presented here. H.N. was supported by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) and Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. J.C.I.B. was supported by the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation, The Moxie Foundation, Fundación Dr. Pedro Guillen and UCAM. R.J. was supported by grants from the NIH (HD 045022, R37-CA084198, 1R01NS088538-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, 92037, California, USA

    Jun Wu & Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte

  2. Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM) Campus de los Jerónimos, nº 135 Guadalupe, Murcia, 30107, Spain

    Jun Wu

  3. Center for Law and the Biosciences, Stanford Law School, 559 Nathan Abbott Way Stanford, California, 94305-8610, USA

    Henry T. Greely

  4. The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Biology, MIT, Cambridge, 02142, Massachusetts, USA

    Rudolf Jaenisch

  5. Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, 94305-5101, California, USA

    Hiromitsu Nakauchi

  6. Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 108-8639, Japan

    Hiromitsu Nakauchi

  7. Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, M5G 0A4, Ontario, Canada

    Janet Rossant

  8. Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, 1 King’s College Circle, Toronto, M5S 1A8, Ontario, Canada

    Janet Rossant

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J.W., H.G., R.J., H.N., J.R. and J.C.I.B conceived the study and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte.

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Reviewer Information Nature thanks S. Goldman, I. Hyun and M. A. Surani for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Wu, J., Greely, H., Jaenisch, R. et al. Stem cells and interspecies chimaeras. Nature 540, 51–59 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20573

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