Quantitative comparison of the mRNA content of human iPSC-derived motor neurons and their extracellular vesicles

Engineering considerations of iPSC-based personalized medicine

Personalized medicine aims to provide tailored medical treatment that considers the clinical, genetic, and environmental characteristics of patients. iPSCs have attracted considerable attention in the field of personalized medicine; however, the inherent limitations of iPSCs prevent their widespread use in clinical applications. That is, it would be important to develop notable engineering strategies to overcome the current limitations of iPSCs. Such engineering approaches could lead to significant advances in iPSC-based personalized therapy by offering innovative solutions to existing challenges, from iPSC preparation to clinical applications. In this review, we summarize how engineering strategies have been used to advance iPSC-based personalized medicine by categorizing the development process into three distinctive steps: 1) the production of therapeutic iPSCs; 2) engineering of therapeutic iPSCs; and 3) clinical applications of engineered iPSCs. Specifically, we focus on engineering strategies and their implications for each step in the development of iPSC-based personalized medicine.

Extracellular Vesicles in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and is the most common adult motor neuron disease. The disease pathogenesis is complex with the perturbation of multiple pathways proposed, including mitochondrial dysfunction, RNA processing, glutamate excitotoxicity, endoplasmic reticulum stress, protein homeostasis and endosomal transport/extracellular vesicle (EV) secretion. EVs are nanoscopic membrane-bound particles that are released from cells, involved in the intercellular communication of proteins, lipids and genetic material, and there is increasing evidence of their role in ALS. After discussing the biogenesis of EVs, we review their roles in the propagation of pathological proteins in ALS, such as TDP-43, SOD1 and FUS, and their contribution to disease pathology. We also discuss the ALS related genes which are involved in EV formation and vesicular trafficking, before considering the EV protein and RNA dysregulation found in ALS and how these have been investigated as potential biomarkers. Finally, we highlight the potential use of EVs as therapeutic agents in ALS, in particular EVs derived from mesenchymal stem cells and EVs as drug delivery vectors for potential treatment strategies.