As advanced medical treatments for cats and dogs develop, it is hoped that iPS cells will be used to develop new therapies and elucidate the pathology of genetic diseases, etc. However, there have been far fewer research cases on cats compared to dogs, and no high-quality feline iPS cells have been available.

　The vectors (gene carriers) used in conventional feline iPS cell research damage the genome or cause cancer when foreign genes are inserted into the genome of the host cell. In addition, feeder cells (mouse fetal fibroblasts) that aid cell growth are not suitable for culturing feline iPS cells. Furthermore, a key ability that determines the quality of iPS cells (teratoma formation ability) was not present in conventional feline iPS cells, and they were of low quality. Therefore, a method was needed to create high-quality (teratoma-forming) feline iPS cells without gene insertion (footprint-free) and to culture them without feeders (feeder-free).

　The research group used an RNA viral vector this time, which allows the introduced gene to be easily removed from the cell without being inserted into the cell's genome. In addition, by introducing six feline factors (genes) into feline fibroblasts, they succeeded in producing footprint-free feline iPS cells from the fibroblasts, albeit at a low efficiency. Feeder-free culture was possible, and the cells also had teratoma formation capabilities. Using this viral vector, they were also able to produce feline iPS cells from cells taken from the uterus that is discarded during spay/neuter surgery.

　It is hoped that as research using the feline iPS cells produced progresses in the future, it will be possible to elucidate the pathology of chronic kidney disease and develop new cell therapies.

Paper information:【Regenerative Therapy】Generation of footprint-free, high-quality feline induced pluripotent stem cells using Sendai virus vector