Human artificial chromosomes (HACs) have unique characteristics as gene-delivery vectors, including episomal transmission and transfer of multiple, large transgenes. Here, we demonstrate the advantages of HAC vectors for reprogramming mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Two HAC vectors (iHAC1 and iHAC2) were constructed. Both carried four reprogramming ...

Human-induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells share the same key properties as embryonic stem cells, and may be generated from patient- or disease-specific sources, which makes them attractive for personalized medicine, drug screens, or cellular therapy. Long-term cultivation and maintenance of normal iPS cells in an undifferentiated self-renewing state is a major challenge. Our previous studies h...

Two years ago, the first clinical application study of iPS cells began with age-related macular degeneration. At first, six cases were scheduled. However, last year, for the second patient, the operation was stopped due to the genetic mutation of iPS cells from this patient. This genetic mutation was reported to be the absence of some genetic information. The risk of developing cancer also coul...

Hematopoiesis generated from human embryonic stem cells (ES) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) are unprecedented resources for cell therapy. We compared hematopoietic differentiation potentials from ES and iPS cell lines originated from various donors and derived them using integrative and non-integrative vectors. Significant differences in differentiation toward hematopoietic lineage we...

Three-dimensional (3D) shape is important for the visual control of grasping and manipulation. We used fMRI to study the processing of 3D shape extracted from disparity in human parietal cortex. Subjects stereoscopically viewed random-line stimuli portraying a 3D structure, a 2D structure in multiple depth planes or a 2D structure in the fixation plane. Subtracting the second from the first con...

We address conditional de-Gaussification of continuous variable states by inconclusive photon subtraction (IPS) and review in details its application to bipartite twin-beam state of radiation. The IPS map in the Fock basis has been derived, as well as its counterpart in the phase-space. Teleportation assisted by IPS states is analyzed and the corresponding fidelity evaluated as a function of th...

Employment is a key to community reintegration for both people with mental illness and those with justice involvement. At present, the empirical literature on employment services for justice-involved people with or without mental illness is meager. By contrast, an extensive evidence base documents the effectiveness of a specific employment model for people with severe mental illness: the Indivi...

Ataxia telangiectasia is a neurodegenerative inherited disease with chromosomal instability and hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation. iPS cells lacking ATM (AT-iPS cells) exhibited hypersensitivity to X-ray irradiation, one of the characteristics of the disease. While parental ataxia telangiectasia cells exhibited significant chromosomal abnormalities, AT-iPS cells did not show any chromosoma...

This chapter describes the methods we use to derive and characterize human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. We describe in order, first our culture techniques for the starting fibroblast populations and methods for retrovirus preparation and concentration. Subsequently, a detailed iPS derivation protocol suitable for human fibroblast populations is discussed using standard retroviral vecto...

Reprogramming somatic cells into an ESC-like state, or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, has emerged as a promising new venue for customized cell therapies. In this study, we performed directed differentiation to assess the ability of murine iPS cells to differentiate into bone, cartilage, and fat in vitro and to maintain an osteoblast phenotype on a scaffold in vitro and in vivo. Embryoid ...