News Releases & Research Results Novel immunoregulation method with iPS cells - Utilization of iPS cells in transplantation medicine

The results of collaborative research conducted by Professor Ken-ichiro Seino of the Institute for Genetic Medicine, Hokkaido University, and others.

• Thymic epithelial-like cells prepared from mouse iPS cells were transplanted into mice with a normal immune system, successfully prolonging the graft survival (i.e., the period for which a graft remains in the body without being rejected) and controlling the host anti-graft immune response for the first time.
• To utilize thymic epithelial cells as “immunoregulatory cells,” the Foxn1 gene critical for thymic development was introduced into mouse iPS cells, generating thymic epithelial-like cells from mouse iPS cells more efficiently than before.
• This research result would be the first verification of immunoregulation in regenerative medicine, which should be applied to future transplantation medicine with iPS cells.

This research project was conducted with the support of Research Center Network for Realization of Regenerative Medicine by AMED.

The study was published in Scientific Reports an online journal, on January 14.

Otsuka R., et al. Efficient generation of thymic epithelium from induced pluripotent stem cells that prolongs allograft survival Scientific Reports
DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-57088-1