Highly efficient reprogramming to pluripotency and directed differentiation of human cells with synthetic modified mRNA

Luigi Warren, Philip D. Manos, Tim Ahfeldt, Yuin Han Loh, Hu Li, Frank Lau, Wataru Ebina, Pankaj K. Mandal, Zachary D. Smith, Alexander Meissner, George Q. Daley, Andrew S. Brack, James J. Collins, Chad Cowan, Thorsten M. Schlaeger, Derrick J. Rossi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1797 Scopus citations

Abstract

Clinical application of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is limited by the low efficiency of iPSC derivation and the fact that most protocols modify the genome to effect cellular reprogramming. Moreover, safe and effective means of directing the fate of patient-specific iPSCs toward clinically useful cell types are lacking. Here we describe a simple, nonintegrating strategy for reprogramming cell fate based on administration of synthetic mRNA modified to overcome innate antiviral responses. We show that this approach can reprogram multiple human cell types to pluripotency with efficiencies that greatly surpass established protocols. We further show that the same technology can be used to efficiently direct the differentiation of RNA-induced pluripotent stem cells (RiPSCs) into terminally differentiated myogenic cells. This technology represents a safe, efficient strategy for somatic cell reprogramming and directing cell fate that has broad applicability for basic research, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)618-630
Number of pages13
JournalCell Stem Cell
Volume7
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 5 2010

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Genetics
  • Cell Biology

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