The Quest to Derive Keratinocytes from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract

The derivation of keratinocytes from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) is a worthy goal. Epidermal and corneal keratinocytes cultured from normal human tissue have been very well-characterized for their growth and differentiation properties and their ability to regenerate permanent tissue as autologous transplants. PSC-derived keratinocytes would therefore be ideal for establishing proof-of-principle that normal, well-defined, and functional somatic cell types can be derived from PSCs and used successfully in tissue replacement therapies. Much progress has been made to identify experimental protocols for deriving cells that display some keratinocyte properties from ES and iPS cells. However, the proliferative potential of these cells typically is very limited and many features of these cells are common to all members of the large family of p63 epithelial cell types. Thus many lines of investigation remain to be examined more thoroughly in this important and exciting field.