Regenerative Medicine for Skin Diseases: iPS Cells to the Rescue

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells reprogrammed from somatic cells have the potential to differentiate, under appropriate conditions, to any cell type. Recent studies, including two papers in this issue (Bilousova et al., 2011; Tolar et al., 2011), have demonstrated that iPS cells can differentiate into keratinocytes. Thus, iPS cells may provide a novel approach to applying regenerative medicine to cutaneous diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa. Journal of Investigative Dermatology (2011) 131, 812-814. doi:10.1038/jid.2011.2