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Gähwiler EKN, Motta SE, Martin M, Nugraha B, Hoerstrup SP, Emmert MY. Human iPSCs and Genome Editing Technologies for Precision Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:639699. [PMID: 34262897 PMCID: PMC8273765 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.639699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) originate from the reprogramming of adult somatic cells using four Yamanaka transcription factors. Since their discovery, the stem cell (SC) field achieved significant milestones and opened several gateways in the area of disease modeling, drug discovery, and regenerative medicine. In parallel, the emergence of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) revolutionized the field of genome engineering, allowing the generation of genetically modified cell lines and achieving a precise genome recombination or random insertions/deletions, usefully translated for wider applications. Cardiovascular diseases represent a constantly increasing societal concern, with limited understanding of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. The ability of iPSCs to differentiate into multiple cell types combined with CRISPR-Cas9 technology could enable the systematic investigation of pathophysiological mechanisms or drug screening for potential therapeutics. Furthermore, these technologies can provide a cellular platform for cardiovascular tissue engineering (TE) approaches by modulating the expression or inhibition of targeted proteins, thereby creating the possibility to engineer new cell lines and/or fine-tune biomimetic scaffolds. This review will focus on the application of iPSCs, CRISPR-Cas9, and a combination thereof to the field of cardiovascular TE. In particular, the clinical translatability of such technologies will be discussed ranging from disease modeling to drug screening and TE applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric K. N. Gähwiler
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sarah E. Motta
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Wyss Zurich, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marcy Martin
- Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
- Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
- Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Bramasta Nugraha
- Molecular Parasitology Lab, Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Bioscience Cardiovascular, Research and Early Development, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism, R&D BioPharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Simon P. Hoerstrup
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Wyss Zurich, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Maximilian Y. Emmert
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Wyss Zurich, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, German Heart Center Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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