Published online Sep 26, 2019. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i9.634
Peer-review started: February 27, 2019
First decision: April 11, 2019
Revised: July 26, 2019
Accepted: August 20, 2019
Article in press: August 20, 2019
Published online: September 26, 2019
Processing time: 212 Days and 0.2 Hours
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease caused by the progressive loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra. As DA neurons degenerate, PD patients gradually lose their ability of movement. To date no effective therapies are available for the treatment of PD and its pathogenesis remains unknown. Experimental models that appropriately mimic the development of PD are certainly needed for gaining mechanistic insights into PD pathogenesis and identifying new therapeutic targets. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) could provide a promising model for fundamental research and drug screening. In this review, we summarize various iPSCs-based PD models either derived from PD patients through reprogramming technology or established by gene-editing technology, and the promising application of iPSC-based PD models for mechanistic studies and drug testing.
Core tip: Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived dopaminergic neurons hold great promise for studying disease mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease (PD) and testing drug effects. A number of reviews have previously summarized the potential use of patient iPSCs for modeling PD. However, few of them comprehensively discuss the establishment of gene-editing-based iPSCs for PD and their application in research. Our objective is to consolidate the current literature on various iPSC-based PD models either derived from PD patients through reprogramming technology or established by gene-editing technology, and provide new insights into the application of iPSC PD models.