A team led by Professor Shingo Hatoya from Osaka Metropolitan University has generated high-quality feline induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for the first time in the world.
While human iPSCs have been generated using just four genes, feline iPSCs have been difficult to generate.
The team introduced six transcription factors via the Sendai virus vector to generate feline iPSCs from the cells of cats, including those derived from the uterus that were donated when cats were sterilized.
The stem cells generated exhibit the properties that many iPS cells do, such as the formation of teratomas, which proves that they can differentiate into a variety of cells.
They can also be maintained without feeder, making them safer as they do not mix cells from different species.
These high-quality feline iPSCs are expected to be provided to researchers around the world for use in veterinary regenerative medicine research, understanding of the pathophysiology of genetic diseases, and development of new therapeutic agents.
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