Reprogramming rat embryonic fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells using transposon vectors and their chondrogenic differentiation in vitro.

It has been known that the successful reprogramming of differentiated human somatic cells into a pluripotent state would allow for the creation of cartilage cells. However, current virus‑mediated strategies to form induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are limited in their clinical application due to exogenous gene modification. In the present study, the piggyBac transposon system carrying corresponding genes (Oct3/4, Klf4, Sox2 and c‑Myc) was employed to reprogram rat embryonic fibroblasts (REFs) into iPSCs, and the transposon‑carried genes were successfully removed by a transposase system. Furthermore, the differentiation capacity of the iPSCs into chondrocytes was investigated in vitro. A typical chondrocyte marker, collagen‑II, was expressed following culture. In conclusion, rat iPSCs without genetic modification were obtained from REFs using the piggyBac transposon system and the transposase mPB system, and these cells possessed the capacity of chondrocyte differentiation, suggesting that this method may be an effective approach for the treatment of cartilage disorders in the future.