Title:Urine Cells-derived iPSCs: An Upcoming Frontier in Regenerative Medicine
Volume: 28
Issue: 31
Author(s): Sanjeev Gautam*, Sangita Biswas, Birbal Singh, Ying Guo*, Peng Deng and Wenbin Deng*
Affiliation:
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817,United States
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510006,China
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817,United States
Keywords:
Urine cells, stem cells, reprogramming, iPSCs, regenerative medicine, stem cell therapies.
Abstract: There is a momentous surge in the development of stem cell technology, such
as therapeutic and diagnostic tools. Stem cell-derived cells are currently used in various
clinical trials. However, key issues and challenges faced involve the low differentiation
efficiency, integration and functioning of transplanted stem cells-derived cells. Extraction
of bone marrow, adipose or other mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) involves invasive
methods, specialized skills and expensive technologies. Urine-derived cells, on the other
hand, are obtained by non-invasive methods; samples can be obtained repeatedly from patients
of any age. Urine-derived cells are used to generate reprogrammed or induced
pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) which can be cultured and differentiated into various types
of cell lineages for biomedical investigations and drug testing in vitro or in vivo using
model animals of human diseases. Urine cells-derived iPSCs (UiPSCs) have emerged as
a major area of research having immense therapeutic significance. Given that preliminary
preclinical studies are successful in terms of safety and as a regenerative tool, the UiPSCs
will pave the way to the development of various types of autologous stem cell therapies.
