The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is one of the most fascinating discoveries in the history of stem cell biology. John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka received the 2012 Nobel Prize in Biology for showing that adult cells could be induced to become embryonic-like stem cells (iPSCs). Many stem cell laboratories now routinely convert skin cells or blood cells from an adult patient into iPSCs. The stem cell properties of the generated iPSCs then allow researchers to convert them into a desired cell type, such as heart cells (cardiomyocytes) or brain cells (neurons), which can then be used for cell-based therapies or for the screening of novel drugs. The initial conversion of adult cells to iPSCs is referred to as "reprogramming" and is thought to represent a form of rejuvenation, because the adult cell appears to lose its adult cell identity and reverts to an immature embryonic-like state. However, we know surprisingly little about the specific mechanisms that allow adult cells to become embryonic-like. For example, how does a blood immune cell such as a lymphocyte lose its lymphocyte characteristics during the reprogramming process? Does the lymphocyte that is converted into an immature iPSC state "remember" that it used to be a lymphocyte? If yes, does this "memory" affect what types of cells the newly generated iPSCs can be converted into -- that is, are iPSCs derived from lymphocytes very different from iPSCs that are derived from skin cells?
There have been a number of recent studies that have tried to address the question of the "memory" in iPSCs, but two recent papers published in the Jan. 3, 2013 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell provide some of the most compelling proofs of an iPSC "memory" and also show that this "memory" could be used for therapeutic purposes. In the paper "Regeneration of Human Tumor Antigen-Specific T Cells from iPSCs Derived from Mature CD8+ T Cells," Raul Vizcardo and colleagues studied the reprogramming of T-lymphocytes derived from the tumor of a melanoma patient. Mature T-lymphocytes are immune cells that can recognize specific targets, depending on what antigen they have been exposed to. The tumor-infiltrating cells used by Vizcardo and colleagues have been previously shown to recognize the melanoma tumor antigen MART-1. The researchers were able to successfully generate iPSCs from the T-lymphocytes, and they then converted the iPSCs back to T-lymphocytes. What they found was that the newly generated T-lymphocytes expressed a receptor that was specific for the MART tumor antigen. Even though the newly generated T-lymphocytes had not been exposed to the tumor, they had retained their capacity to respond to the melanoma antigen. The most likely explanation for this is that the generated iPSCs "remembered" their previous exposure to the tumor in their past lives as T-lymphocytes before they had been converted to embryonic-like iPSCs and then "reborn" as new T-lymphocytes. The iPSC reprogramming apparently did not wipe out their "memory."
This finding has important therapeutic implications. One key problem that the immune system faces when fighting a malignant tumor is that the demand for immune cells outpaces their availability. The new study suggests that one can take activated immune cells from a cancer patient, convert them to the iPSC state, differentiate them back into rejuvenated immune cells, expand them and inject them back into the patient. The expanded and rejuvenated immune cells would retain their prior anti-tumor "memory," be primed to fight the tumor and thus significantly augment the ability of the immune system to slow down the tumor growth.
The paper by Vizcardo and colleagues did not actually show the rejuvenation and anti-tumor efficacy of the iPSC-derived T-lymphocytes, and this needs to be addressed in future studies. However, the paper "Generation of Rejuvenated Antigen-Specific T Cells by Reprogramming to Pluripotency and Redifferentiation" by Toshinobu Nishimura and colleagues in the same issue of Cell Stem Cell did address the rejuvenation question, albeit in a slightly different context. This group of researchers obtained T-lymphocytes from a patient with HIV, then generated iPSC and re-differentiated the iPSCs back into T-lymphocytes. Similar to what Vizcardo and colleagues had observed, Nishimura and colleagues found that their iPSC-derived T-lymphocytes retained an immunological "memory" against HIV antigens. Importantly, the newly derived T-lymphocytes were highly proliferative and had longer telomeres. The telomeres are chunks of DNA that become shorter as cells age, so the lengthening of telomeres and the high growth rate of the iPSC derived T-lymphocytes were both indicators that the iPSC reprogramming process had made the cells younger while also retaining their "memory" or ability to respond to HIV.
Further studies are now needed to test whether adding the rejuvenated cells back into the body does actually help prevent tumor growth and can treat HIV infections. There is also a need to ensure that the cells are safe and the rejuvenation process itself did not cause any harmful genetic changes. Long telomeres have been associated with the formation of tumors, and one has to make sure that the iPSC-derived lymphocytes do not become malignant. These two studies represent an exciting new development in iPSC research. They not only clearly document that iPSCs retain a "memory" of the original adult cell type that they are derived from but show that this "memory" can be put to good use. This is especially true for immune cells, because retaining an immunological "memory" allows rejuvenated iPSC-derived immune cells to resume the fight against a tumor or a virus.
An earlier version of this article was published on the stem cells blog The Next Regeneration.