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Stem cells

The quest for the perfect reprogrammed cell

Nature volume 511, pages 160–162 (2014)Cite this article

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There are two methods for reprogramming mature cells to pluripotent stem cells, which can give rise to all cells of the body. The first direct comparison of the methods reveals that both can cause subtle molecular defects. See Article p.177

Pluripotent stem cells hold promise for disease modelling and therapeutics, because they have the potential to differentiate into almost all cell lineages. In particular, there is much interest in patient-derived pluripotent stem cells, which are genetically matched to the patient's own cells, minimizing the risk of rejection by the immune system. In the past decade, two cell-reprogramming methods have been successfully used to generate patient-derived pluripotent stem cells: cloning1 and direct reprogramming of differentiated cells to induced pluripotent stem cells, through the addition of a defined transcription-factor cocktail2. However, the molecular differences between cells derived using each method remain unclear. In this issue, Ma et al.3 (page 177) define the molecular differences between these two cell types, and set the stage for further improvements to reprogramming methodology.

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Figure 1: Comparing techniques for generating stem cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vladislav Krupalnik and Jacob H. Hanna are in the Department of Molecular Genetics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.,

    Vladislav Krupalnik & Jacob H. Hanna

Authors
  1. Vladislav Krupalnik
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  2. Jacob H. Hanna
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Correspondence to Jacob H. Hanna.

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Krupalnik, V., Hanna, J. The quest for the perfect reprogrammed cell. Nature 511, 160–162 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13515

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