Generation of patient-specific pluripotent stem cells and directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells for regenerative medicine

Embryonic stem(ES) cells are pluripotent cells that can give rise to derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers. Due to its characteristics, the patient-specific ES cells are of great potential for transplantation therapies. Several strategies can reprogramme somatic cells back to pluripotent stem cells: nuclear transfer, fusion with ES cells, treatment with cell extract and induction by specific factors. Considering the future clinical use, the differentiation from ES to neurons, cardiomyocytes and many other types of cells currently provide basic cognition and experience to regenerative medicine. This article will review two courses, the reprogramming of differentiated cells and the differentiation of ES cells to specific cell types.