State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Protein Cell. 2013 Jun;4(6):415-24. doi: 10.1007/s13238-013-2089-y. Epub 2013 May 20.
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent cells that have the ability of unlimited self-renewal and can be differentiated into different cell lineages, including neural stem (NS) cells. Diverse regulatory signaling pathways of neural stem cells differentiation have been discovered, and this will be of great benefit to uncover the mechanisms of neuronal differentiation in vivo and in vitro. However, the limitations of hESCs resource along with the religious and ethical concerns impede the progress of ESCs application. Therefore, the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) via somatic cell reprogramming have opened up another new territory for regenerative medicine. iPSCs now can be derived from a number of lineages of cells, and are able to differentiate into certain cell types, including neurons. Patient-specifi c iPSCs are being used in human neurodegenerative disease modeling and drug screening. Furthermore, with the development of somatic direct reprogramming or lineage reprogramming technique, a more effective approach for regenerative medicine could become a complement for iPSCs.
人类胚胎干细胞（hESCs）是多能细胞，具有无限自我更新的能力，并能分化为不同的细胞谱系，包括神经干细胞（NS）细胞。已经发现了神经干细胞分化的多种调节信号通路，这将有助于揭示体内和体外神经元分化的机制。然而，hESCs 资源的局限性以及宗教和伦理问题阻碍了 ESCs 应用的进展。因此，通过体细胞重编程产生的诱导多能干细胞（iPSCs）为再生医学开辟了另一个新领域。iPSCs 现在可以从多种细胞谱系中获得，并能分化为特定的细胞类型，包括神经元。患者特异性 iPSCs 正在用于人类神经退行性疾病建模和药物筛选。此外，随着体细胞直接重编程或谱系重编程技术的发展，一种更有效的再生医学方法可能成为 iPSCs 的补充。
