Production of reprogrammed pluripotent cells

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of producing a reprogrammed cell, said method comprising exposing Stro-1+ multipotential cells and / or progeny cells thereof to one or more potency-determining factors under conditions sufficient to reprogram the cells. The present invention also provides cells produced by such a method and cells differentiated therefrom in addition to various uses of those cells.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to pluripotent cells and methods for their production.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Embryonic stem (ES) cells can purportedly grow indefinitely while maintaining pluripotency and can differentiate into cells of all three germ layers, i.e., mesoderm, endoderm and ectoderm (Evans & Kaufman, Nature 292: 154-156 (1981)). Human ES cells and cells derived therefrom are currently being assessed for the treatment of a host of diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury and diabetes. However, the fact that human ES cells are obtained from human embryos raises a number of highly contentious ethical considerations and in many countries the derivation of these cells is prohibited by law. Furthermore, because ES cells and cells derived therefrom express antigens from the subject from which they are derived, there is a risk that those cells will be rejected if administered to an unmatched (e.g., not expressing similar HLA ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text is about a new method for creating iPS cells without using high levels of exogenous proteins. The method involves using a specific gene called Stro-1+ that is found in multipotential cells and can naturally reprogram fibroblasts to become iPS cells. This approach may reduce the risk of tumorigenesis and allow for the production of iPS cells with lower levels of c-myc.

Problems solved by technology

However, the fact that human ES cells are obtained from human embryos raises a number of highly contentious ethical considerations and in many countries the derivation of these cells is prohibited by law.

Furthermore, because ES cells and cells derived therefrom express antigens from the subject from which they are derived, there is a risk that those cells will be rejected if administered to an unmatched (e.g., not expressing similar HLA type(s) subject.

Difficulties associated with these methods include the requirement for destruction of ova and / or embryos, which may raise ethical considerations in some countries.

17: 126-140 (2003)) and Nanog (Chambers et al, Cell 113:643-655 (2003)) are involved in maintaining ES cell pluripotency; however, none is sufficient alone to specify ES cell identity.

However, this technique does suffer from some major disadvantages, including a low rate of reprogramming (considerably less than 1% of treated cells), and the need for genomic integration and continuous expression of the oncogenes c-Myc and Klf4. Expression of these genes may lead to production of tumors in recipients of the cells or cells derived therefrom.

However, isolation of these cells from humans is difficult or not feasible due to the invasive nature of tissue collection and / or limited donor samples available.

Some more accessible cell types (e.g., muscle cells or differentiated hematopoietic cells) have been used as the basis for iPS studies, however reprogramming has met with limited success.