Canine Pluripotent Stem Cells: Preclinical Model for Stem Cell Based Regenerative Medicine

Due to the unique similarity to human physiology, biochemistry, and pathology for many diseases, canine breeds have been applied to preclinical research into human medicine for several decades. Since 2006, the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cell technology set the stage for the patient specific stem cell-based therapy. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of this potential therapeutic strategy, a growing body of studies on the generation and differentiation of canine induced pluripotent stem cells (ciPSCs) have been reported. In this review, the current progress from the ciPSCs studies will be described. Additionally, the unique regulatory mechanism(s) for pluripotency maintenance with in canine pluripotent stem cells will be discussed and compared with those in mouse and human.