Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived blood products: state of the art and future directions

In vitro cultured blood cells for transfusion purposes provide a safe alternative to donor blood, particularly for patients who require recurrent transfusions, and can be used as carriers of therapeutic molecules. In vitro derivation of hematopoietic cell types from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) allows for a constant, well-defined production pipeline for such advanced therapeutic and medicinal products. Application of selected iPSC-derived hematopoietic stem cells and hematopoietic effector cells in transplantation/transfusions would avoid the risk of alloimmunization and blood-borne diseases, as well as enable the production of enhanced blood cells expressing molecules that enforce blood cell function or endow novel therapeutic properties. Here, we discuss the state of the art approaches to produce erythroid, megakaryoid and myeloid cells from iPSCs and the biological and technical hurdles that we need to overcome prior to therapeutic application.