Application of induced pluripotent stem cells to hematologic disease

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) were first generated from somatic cells via the transduction of four ‘Yamanaka’ factors, Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. Because iPSC are similar to embryonic stem cells (ESC) and can be differentiated into any cell type of choice, iPSC have the potential to become a platform for personalized medicine by allowing a patient's own cells to become a source of therapeutic tissue. This review describes the main challenges in iPSC technology by focusing on its application to hematologic diseases. The explosive interest in improving iPSC technology has generated numerous genetic and chemical methods for iPSC derivation, but these methods must be evaluated comparatively for their safety and efficacy because there are risks of genetic abnormalities and oncogenesis. Competent iPSC will need to be selected carefully based on physical, genetic and functional criteria, and differentiated efficiently into hematopoietic stem cells via modulation of several signaling pathways before they prove valuable in the clinic.