Is Human-induced Pluripotent Stem Cell the Best Optimal?

OBJECTIVE: Since the advent of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology a decade ago, enormous progress has been made in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. Human iPSCs have been widely used for disease modeling, drug discovery, and cell therapy development. In this review, we discuss the progress in applications of iPSC technology that are particularly relevant to drug discovery and regenerative medicine, and consider the remaining challenges and the emerging opportunities in the field. DATA SOURCES: Articles in this review were searched from PubMed database from January 2014 to December 2017. STUDY SELECTION: Original articles about iPSCs and cardiovascular diseases were included and analyzed. RESULTS: iPSC holds great promises for human disease modeling, drug discovery, and stem cell-based therapy, and this potential is only beginning to be realized. However, several important issues remain to be addressed. CONCLUSIONS: The recent availability of human cardiomyocytes derived from iPSCs opens new opportunities to build in vitro models of cardiac disease, screening for new drugs and patient-specific cardiac therapy.