Immunobiology of pluripotent stem cells

Due to ethical concerns, the derivation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells seems to be a novel, promising tool. However, the generation, validation, differentiation and puri-fication of iPS cells takes weeks to months and therefore, patient-specific iPS cells will not be readily available for acute diseases such as myocardial infarction or stroke. For this purpose, off-the-shelf cell products (e.g., iPS cell-derived cardiac and neuronal cells) will be required to be administered in a timely fashion. These cells, however, would not be patient-specific, but allogeneic. Since systemic immunosuppression for iPS cell recipients is not justifiable and feasible for cell therapy, we are aiming to understand their immune rejection and subsequent generate hypo-immunogenic cells that allow universal allogeneic transplantation without inducing immune activation, thereby evading rejection.