Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Sep 26, 2019; 11(9): 634-649
Published online Sep 26, 2019. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i9.634
Using induced pluripotent stem cells for modeling Parkinson’s disease
Minjing Ke, Cheong-Meng Chong, Huanxing Su
Minjing Ke, Cheong-Meng Chong, Huanxing Su, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao 999078, China
Author contributions: Minjing Ke and Cheong-Meng Chong contributed equally to this manuscript.
Supported by the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund, No. 039/2017/AFJ and 0020/2018/A.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Huanxing Su, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, University Northern Road, Macao 999078, China. huanxingsu@umac.mo
Telephone: +853-83978518 Fax: +853-28841358
Received: February 25, 2019
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
Abstract

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.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, Dopaminergic neurons, Induced pluripotent stem cells, Somatic cell reprogramming, Aging

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.