Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult Rhesus Monkey Fibroblasts

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be generated from somatic cells by transduction with several transcription factors in both mouse and human. However, direct reprogramming in other species has not been reported. Here, we established an efficient method to generate monkey iPS cells from fibroblasts by retrovirus-mediated introduction of the four monkey transcription factors OCT4 (POU5F1), SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC. The monkey iPS cells displayed ES-like morphology, expressed ES cell-marker genes, shared similar global gene profiles and methylation status in the OCT4 promoter to those of monkey ES cells, and possessed the ability to differentiate into three germ layers in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that the mechanism of direct reprogramming is conserved among species. The efficient generation of monkey iPS cells will allow investigation of the feasibility of therapeutic cloning in primate model with various diseases.

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Liu H, Zhu F, Yong J, Zhang P, Hou P, Li H, Jiang W, Cai J, Liu M, Cui K, Qu X, Xiang T, Lu D, Chi X, Gao G, Ji W, Ding M, Deng H