Date
August 2011
Journal
Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice
Volume
27
Number
2
Pages
233-242
The field of regenerative medicine research is rapidly expanding. One area of interest to equine researchers is the possibility of isolating or generating pluripotent cells, capable of producing differentiated cell types derived from all 3 primary germ layers. Reports of equine embryonic stem-like (ES) cell isolation can be found in the literature. Other groups are working to produce equine-induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. This article summarizes the essential features needed to characterize a cell type as pluripotent, specific challenges in using the horse as a model organism for pluripotent cell generation, and current and upcoming clinical trials using ES/iPS cells.