Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Stem cells

iPS cells under attack

Nature volume 474, pages 165–166 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Induced pluripotent stem cells offer promise for patient-specific regenerative therapy. But a study now cautions that, even when immunologically matched, these cells can be rejected after transplantation. See Letter p.212

In 2006, Takahashi and Yamanaka1 made a groundbreaking discovery. When they introduced four specific genes associated with embryonic development into adult mouse cells, the cells were reprogrammed to resemble embryonic stem cells (ES cells). They named these cells induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). This approach does not require the destruction of embryos, and so assuaged the ethical concerns surrounding research on ES cells2. What's more, researchers subsequently noted that the use of 'custom-made' adult cells derived from human iPS cells might ultimately allow the treatment of patients with debilitating degenerative disorders. Given that such cells' DNA is identical to that of the patient, it has been assumed — although never rigorously tested — that they wouldn't be attacked by the immune system3. On page 212 of this issue, however, Zhao et al.4 show, in a mouse transplantation model, that some iPS cells are immunogenic, raising concerns about their therapeutic use.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Immunogenicity of induced pluripotent stem cells.

References

  1. Takahashi, K. & Yamanaka, S. Cell 126, 663–676 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Stadtfeld, M. & Hochedlinger, K. Genes Dev. 24, 2239–2263 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wu, S. M. & Hochedlinger, K. Nature Cell Biol. 13, 497–505 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhao, T., Zhang, Z.-N., Rong, Z. & Xu, Y. Nature 474, 212–215 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kim, K. et al. Nature 467, 285–290 (2010).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Polo, J. M. et al. Nature Biotechnol. 28, 848–855 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hanna, J. et al. Science 318, 1920–1923 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. USA. They are also in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Effie Apostolou and Konrad Hochedlinger are at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, and at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University.,

    Effie Apostolou & Konrad Hochedlinger

Authors
  1. Effie Apostolou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Konrad Hochedlinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Konrad Hochedlinger.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

K.H. is an adviser to iPerian, Inc.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Apostolou, E., Hochedlinger, K. iPS cells under attack. Nature 474, 165–166 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/474165a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/474165a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing