title: Human finger-prick induced pluripotent stem cells facilitate the development of stem cell banking.
abstract: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from somatic cells of patients can be a good model for studying human diseases and for future therapeutic regenerative medicine. Current initiatives to establish human iPSC (hiPSC) banking face challenges in recruiting large numbers of donors with diverse diseased, genetic, and phenotypic representations. In this study, we describe the efficient derivation of transgene-free hiPSCs from human finger-prick blood. Finger-prick sample collection can be performed on a "do-it-yourself" basis by donors and sent to the hiPSC facility for reprogramming. We show that single-drop volumes of finger-prick samples are sufficient for performing cellular reprogramming, DNA sequencing, and blood serotyping in parallel. Our novel strategy has the potential to facilitate the development of large-scale hiPSC banking worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Epigenetics and Cell Fates Laboratory, A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore; Research and Development Unit, National Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore; Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Genome Institute of Singapore, and Bioinformatics Institute, A*STAR, Singapore; Center for Individualized Medicine, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA; Health Sciences Authority, Singapore; Centre for Biomedical and Life Sciences, Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore; Department of Paediatrics, University Children's Medical Institute, National University Hospital, Singapore; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Department of Biological Sciences, and NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore; Royal Brompton Hospital, London, United Kingdom; National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Hong-Kee
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Cheng-Xu Delon
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Toh
authors.forename: Dongrui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Binxia
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Tong Ming
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Chee-Wai
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Tze-Kai
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Syn
authors.forename: Eng-Lee
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Yoon-Pin
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Stuart A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Yuin-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Loh
mesh_terms: D018070:Biological Specimen Banks; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Finger prick; Human induced pluripotent stem cell banking; Human peripheral blood; Induced pluripotent stem cells; Reprogramming