Overview: iPSCs Safeguard

To live or not to live? This time, why not let cells answer this question and select their fates automatically?

This summer, iGEM team of SYSU-China came up with a new strategy to minimize the tumorigenesis risks of iPSCs: We designed a device which can select the right kinds of cells from induced cell mass and retain selection pressure to remove cancerous cells in the long term. During differentiation, wrong kinds of or undifferentiated cells will undergo apoptosis and the transferred cells can be cultured and brought into further usage. After cells are transplanted into patient’s body, the spontaneous cancerous cells can be killed and cleared.

We have chosen hepatocytes, a type of normal liver cell, and its highly expressed miR-122 to achieve this idea. In order to accurately control our device at the right time, we introduced a manually-indusing switch, tet-off system, to our project. We altered promoter of gene into EF1a which would not be silenced in pluripotent stage. There are several ways to convert iPS cells into hepatocytes available. We hope that our device could promote the development and clinical application of iPSC technology.

So... To live or not to live?

We prefer:

To liver or not to live!