Generation of footprint-free human induced pluripotent stem cell line (SCIKFi001-B) from cGMP grade umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) using episomal-plasmid based reprogramming approach

UCMSCs were reprogrammed to iPSCs using Yamanaka factor bearing episomal plasmids. SCIKFi001-B exhibited pluripotency, had typical iPSC morphology and didn’t retain any residual episomal plasmid. Although karyotyping showed chromosomal translocation, this abnormality seemed to have little impact on the functionality of SCIKFi001-B since it retained its ability to differentiate to three-germ layer. While karyotypic abnormality might negate use in therapeutic and clinical settings, this line remained a valuable educational tool for iPS cell culture techniques. Finally, our study highlighted the importance of routine karyotyping on iPSC lines as abnormal karyotypes oftentimes bear no discernible effect on cell morphology nor functionality.