This article appears in the following Human Molecular Genetics issue: Stem Cells and Regeneration [View the issue table of contents]
Generation of isogenic pluripotent stem cells
Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Education, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1050 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. Tel: +1 6504987303; Fax: +1 6507362961; Email: byrnej{at}stanford.edu
Received December 27, 2007; Accepted February 15, 2008
The ability to reprogram somatic cell nuclei back into a pluripotent epigenetic state provides exciting new possibilities for in vitro research and cell transplantation therapy. There has been a significant quantity of recent research studies demonstrating that this epigenetic reprogramming process is possible with human and non-human primate somatic cells. In this review, various methodologies for reprogramming primate somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells are examined, epigenetic reprogramming following somatic cell nuclear transfer and normal primate embryonic development is compared, and future potential methods to induce direct reprogramming without using genetic modification are discussed.