Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Technology: A Paradigm Shift in Medical Science for Drug Screening and Disease Modeling

Background: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (IPSC) Technology is the most advanced research as it offers an attractive alternative for establishing patient-specific IPSCs to recapitulate phenotypes of not only monogenic diseases (viz. Thalassaemia, Sickle cell anemia, Haemophilia, Tay-Sachs disease), but also late-onset polygenic diseases (viz. Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia). Over the hindsight, numerous studies of the past and current scientists have led to the production, maturation and understanding of induced pluripotent stem cell technology and its use in basic and clinical research. Methods: A systematic search of peer-reviewed scientific literature and clinical trials in public databases were carried out to summarize the evidence on the use of IPSC. Results: 202 papers were studied which discussed the use of patient-derived iPSC models in drug toxicity screening and discovery. Furthermore, their use as disease models was also studied signifying the versatility of iPSC lines. Conclusions: Through this review, we briefly describe the advent of iPSC technology, where we comprehensively cover the generation of iPSCs and their characterization along with their prospective applications using IPSC banks in disease modeling and drug screening. Key words: iPSC, reprogramming, transcription factors, pluripotency, therapy, disease modeling, drug discovery.