Derivation of Transgene-Free Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from a Single Drop of Blood

Human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have great potential for future use in therapeutic regenerative medicine. Based on the current protocol for deriving hiPSCs, invasive procedures such as skin biopsies and venipuncture are required for obtaining donor samples. Herein, we present a detailed protocol for deriving hiPSCs from human finger-prick (FP) blood. In this method, the transgene-free hiPSCs can be easily generated from only 10 µl of FP blood. The finger-pricked iPSCs (FPiPSCs) show all the pluripotency markers and can be easily differentiated into various cell lineages. The time required for deriving the FPiPSCs is relatively short-10 to 15 days for FP blood expansion and 20 to 30 days for reprogramming. This method can be easily adapted for setting up a large scale iPSC bank as it requires only 10 µl of the donor FP blood, which can be easily collected. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.