Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells without Myc from mouse and human fibroblasts.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Bench in vitro and animal experimental research
PubMed 18059259 · doi:10.1038/nbt1374
What was done
Researchers developed a reprogramming method to generate induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from mouse fibroblasts and adult human dermal fibroblasts using retroviral transduction of Oct3/4, Sox2, and Klf4, omitting the c-Myc oncogene. They assessed non-iPS background cell generation, isolation efficiency without drug selection, and tumor development in chimeric mice.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, percentages, or exact sample counts. Directionally, the protocol yielded significantly fewer non-iPS background cells, consistently generated high-quality iPS cells, permitted isolation without drug selection, prevented tumor formation in derived mice during the study period, and successfully generated human iPS cells from adult dermal fibroblasts without MYC.
Why it matters
Removing c-Myc from the reprogramming cocktail significantly reduces the risk of retrovirus-associated tumorigenesis, addressing a major barrier to the clinical and translational use of iPS cells.
Limits
No quantitative efficiency rates, sample sizes, or observation durations are stated in the abstract. The study is limited to in vitro cellular models and mouse chimeras, and long-term genomic stability was not described.
Cited by
- supports The Myc gene is an oncogene, and omitting it from the Yamanaka reprogramming factor cocktail reduces toxicity in reprogramming.