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. 2022 Oct 26;14(11):e13260. doi: 10.15252/emmm.202013260

Figure 1. Applications for induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) include disease modeling, drug screening, regenerative medicine, and toxicity profiling.

Figure 1

(A) From a single blood draw, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are isolated and reprogrammed into iPSCs via viral transduction and overexpression of the Yamanaka factors (octamer‐binding protein 3/4 (OCT 3/4; also known as POU5F1), SRY (sex determining region Y)‐box 2 (SOX2), Krüppel‐like factor 4 (KLF4), and Myc proto‐oncogene protein (c‐MYC); Takahashi & Yamanaka, 2006; Takahashi et al, 2007; Yu et al, 2007). (B) iPSCs contain an individual's genetic information, and disease modeling offers the unique opportunity to understand patient‐specific disease mechanisms that might lead to novel biomarkers and therapies. (C) Drug screening traditionally has difficulty translating from small animal and cell culture models to the clinic. iPSCs contain the genetic code of individuals and can be differentiated into any cell type allowing the determination of safety, efficacy, and possibly patient‐specific responses in a dish. (D) Regenerative medicine involves iPSCs and cell‐free therapy with exosomes derived from iPSCs. (E) iPSCs are also ideally suited to testing for the effects of toxins on the different tissue beds and identifying patient‐specific factors that predispose to toxicity. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]