Preparation of induced pluripotent stem cells using human peripheral blood monocytes

Since induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have been established, in recent years, clinical transplantation of cells differentiated from iPS cells derived from human skin fibroblasts is been in progress. On the contrary, monocytes have complete genome information without damage and gene recombination, they are contained in the peripheral blood by ∼3%-8% and differentiate into dendritic cells that are the type of control tower for immune cells. However, generation of monocyte-derived iPS cells has only been successful when special persistent Sendai virus vectors have been used. Therefore, in this study, as a preculture method for monocytes, a culture method for maintaining activity without using any cytokine was established, and using a commercially available vector without genetic toxicity without damaging the chromosome of the cell, iPS cells derived from monocytes were successfully produced. This cell has the ability to differentiate into three germ layers, and when compared with commercially available iPS cells, there was no significant difference between self-renewal and gene expression in the three germ layers. In future, we will compare the differentiation induction of monocyte-derived iPS cells with dendritic cells and investigate the production of dendritic cells that can cope with various antigens.