体细胞直接转化为多能干细胞的新方法

Direct Generation of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Differentiated Somatic Cells

摘要:

胚胎干细胞具有自我复制、高度增殖、多向分化潜能、可植入性和重建能力等特征。对于诸如青少年糖尿病、帕金森综合症和心脏病等需要通过细胞移植来治疗的疾病而言, 从人的囊胚内细胞团获得胚胎干细胞系是最理想的供体来源。然而, 目前实验和医疗还要考虑到利用人类胚胎的一些伦理问题和组织排异反应。避免这些问题的可能途径就是通过已分化体细胞的重新编程来直接转化为诱导性多能干细胞, 它们具有类似ES细胞的功能。目前, 获得诱导性多能干细胞的设想已初步实现了从老鼠到人的突破。以下主要对体细胞直接转化为诱导性多能干细胞的研究现状、方法和转录因子在诱导体细胞重新编程中发挥的作用等内容进行了概述, 以期为干细胞研究者进行更深入的研究提供一定的借鉴。

Abstract:

Embryonic stem (ES) cells have the unique capacity to proliferate extensively and maintain the potential to differentiate into advanced derivatives of all three primary germ layers. ES cell lines can also be generated from human blastocyst embryos and are considered promising donor sources for cell transplantation therapies for diseases such as juvenile diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and heart failure. However, as for organ transplants, tissue rejection remains a significant concern for ES cell transplantation. Another concern is the use of human embryos. One possible means to avoid these issues is by reprogramming the nuclei of differentiated cells to ES cell-like, pluripotent cells. This review discusses the potential of these strategies to generate tailor-made pluripotent stem cells and the role of transcription factors in the reprogramming process.