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World J Stem Cells. Feb 26, 2016; 8(2): 56-61
Published online Feb 26, 2016. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v8.i2.56
Human pluripotent stem cells: Towards therapeutic development for the treatment of lifestyle diseases
Miwako Nishio, Masako Nakahara, Akira Yuo, Kumiko Saeki
Miwako Nishio, Masako Nakahara, Akira Yuo, Kumiko Saeki, Research Institute, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
Kumiko Saeki, PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
Author contributions: Nishio M, Nakahara M, Yuo A and Saeki K together wrote the manuscript after intensive discussion.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no conflict of Interests to be declared.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kumiko Saeki, MD, PhD, Director, Research Institute, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, 1-21-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan. saeki@ri.ncgm.go.jp
Telephone: +81-3-32027181 Fax: +81-3-32071038
Received: August 17, 2015
Peer-review started: August 21, 2015
First decision: September 30, 2015
Revised: December 17, 2015
Accepted: January 8, 2016
Article in press: January 11, 2016
Published online: February 26, 2016
Processing time: 190 Days and 2.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Clinical application of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs)/induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is currently limited to remediless diseases due to risk of tumorigenesis. However, application of these cells to therapeutic purposes and drug discovery for lifestyle diseases is promising. Because a short-term presence of human ESC/iPSC-derived vascular endothelial cells reportedly exerts long-term therapeutic effects on injured stenotic arteries, immunologically rejections can nullify risk of tumorigenesis without deteriorating therapeutic effects. Another utility is to produce high-scarcity-valued cells such as brown adipocytes, which are unobtainable from living bodies and commercially available sources, as a new tool for drug discovery for lifestyle diseases.