An integration-free, virus-free rhesus macaque induced pluripotent stem cell line (riPSC89) from embryonic fibroblasts

We generated a rhesus macaque induced pluripotent stem cell (riPSC) line, riPSC89, from rhesus embryonic fibroblasts (REFs). Fibroblasts were expanded from the skin of a rhesus macaque embryo at embryonic day 47. REFs and riPSCs had a normal male (42, XY) karyotype. The riPSC89 line was positive for markers of self-renewal including OCT4, NANOG, TRA-1-81 and SSEA4. Pluripotency was demonstrated through the generation of teratomas using transplantation into immunocompromised mice. The riPSC89 line may be a useful non-human primate resource to uncover developmental origins of disease, or used as a basic model to understand lineage specification in the primate embryo.