CiRA | Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University

Notice on lecture requests to Dr. Shinya Yamanaka

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:53:23 +0900

CiRA will set up an online application form in June to receive lecture requests to CiRA Director Shinya Yamanaka. Lecture requests will be accepted only through this online form.

Those who want to invite Dr. Yamanaka as a speaker to meetings be held between September 2014 and March 2015 should submit the application form, which will be made available on this website between June 3 and July 31, 2013. The CiRA Scheduling Management Committee will select invitations he will accept and inform the results of the applicants by the end of September 2013.

Regarding lecture requests to events to be held after April 2015, we will announce the period of acceptance of such requests to Dr. Yamanaka. As previously announced, we will not accept any lecture request to meetings to be held before September 1, 2014.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

The CiRA Scheduling Management Committee

CiRA starts distribution of two new types of Human iPS Cell

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:35:04 +0900

CiRA has started the distribution of two new types of human iPS cell lines to non-profit academic research institutions through RIKEN BioResource center (RIKEN BRC)

A joint research group of Gifu University, RIKEN and HLA Laboratory has established an efficient manner of generating these types of human iPS cells derived from fibroblast. As the episomal plasmid are used to induce 6 factors to fibroblast, these iPS cells are free from genomic integration.

The two iPS cell lines are now available to non-profit organization in Japan for academic research purposes. They will be provided for non-profit institutions overseas.

For more information on research materials of CiRA, please see the page below.

Home > Research Activities > Material Distribution (Non-Profit Organizations)

[Paper information]

Okita K, et al., "A more efficient method to generate integration-free human iPS cells "

Nature Methods (2011)

Modeling Alzheimer's disease using iPSCs reveals stress phenotypes associated with intracellular Aβ and differential drug responsiveness

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:10:10 +0900

Working with a group from Nagasaki University, a research group at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) has successfully modeled Alzheimer's disease (AD) using both familial and sporadic patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and revealed stress phenotypes and differential drug responsiveness associated with intracellular amyloid β oligomers in AD neurons and astrocytes.

In a study published online in Cell Stem Cell, Associate Professor Haruhisa Inoue and his team at CiRA and a research group led by Professor Nobuhisa Iwata of Nagasaki University generated cortical neurons and astrocytes from iPSCs derived from two familial AD patients with mutations in amyloid precursor protein (APP), and two sporadic AD patients. The neural cells from one of the familial and one of the sporadic patients showed endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-stress and oxidative-stress phenotypes associated with intracellular Aβ oligomers. The team also found that these stress phenotypes were attenuated with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) treatment. These findings may help explain the variable clinical results obtained using DHA treatment, and suggest that DHA may in fact be effective only for a subset of patients.

Using both familial and sporadic AD iPSCs, the researchers discovered that pathogenesis differed between individual AD patients. For example, secreted Aβ42 levels were depressed in familial AD with APP E693Δ mutation, elevated in familial AD with APP V717L mutation, but normal in sporadic AD.

"This shows that patient classification by iPSC technology may contribute to a preemptive therapeutic approach toward AD," said Inoue, a principal investigator at CiRA who is also a research director for the CREST research program funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. "Further advances in iPSC technology will be required before large-scale analysis of AD patient-specific iPSCs is possible."

Aβ oligomers in neurons from a familial AD (APP-E693Δ) (left) and from a sporadic AD patient (right)

Green: Aβ oligomers, Blue: Cell Nuclear, Red: Neuron.

COURTESY OF DR. HARUHISA INOUE'S LABORATORY

Title of Paper

"Modeling Alzheimer's disease using iPSCs reveals stress phenotypes associated with intracellular Aβ and differential drug responsiveness''

Authors

Takayuki Kondo, Masashi Asai, Kayoko Tsukita, Yumiko Kutoku, Yutaka Ohsawa, Yoshihide Sunada, Keiko Imamura, Naohiro Egawa, Naoki Yahata, Keisuke Okita, Kazutoshi Takahashi, Isao Asaka, Takashi Aoi, Akira Watanabe, Kaori Watanabe, Chie Kadoya, Rie Nakano, Dai Watanabe, Kei Maruyama, Osamu Hori, Satoshi Hibino, Tominari Choshi, Tatsutoshi Nakahata, Hiroyuki Hioki, Takeshi Kaneko, Motoko Naitoh, Katsuhiro Yoshikawa, Satoko Yamawaki, Shigehiko Suzuki, Ryuji Hata, Shu-ichi Ueno, Tsuneyoshi Seki, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tatsushi Toda, Kazuma Murakami, Kazuhiro Irie, William L. Klein, Hiroshi Mori, Takashi Asada, Ryosuke Takahashi, Nobuhisa Iwatasend email, Shinya Yamanaka, Haruhisa Inoue

Prof. Shinya Yamanaka wins the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:13:36 +0900

The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Foundation announced that Professor Shinya Yamanaka, director of CiRA, has received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells. Other 10 researchers have also won the prize for their remarkable scientific achievements.

For more information, please visit the foundation's website.

CiRA Café FIRST to be held on March 10

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:18:32 +0900

CiRA and British Council are organizing an event, CiRA Café FIRST, "Shall we chat with the stem cell scientists from the UK?" on March 10. CiRA will invite Sir Ian Wilmut from the University of Edinburgh as a speaker at this event.

CiRA holds a series of science cafe events, CiRA Café, for the general public to better understand iPS cell research. Usually this event is held in Japanese, but the March cafe will be conducted in English. Admission is up to 1,000 yen. Pre-registration is required.

This event is funded by the Funding Program for the World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology (FIRST), Cabinet Offce, Japan.

Date	March 10, 2013 16:00-17:30 (Doors open 15:45)
Venue	Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Entrance Hall
Title	Stem cell research; the past, present and future
Organizer	CiRA, Kyoto University British Council
Guest Speaker	Sir. Ian Wilmut (University of Edinburgh)
Moderator	Shigeyuki Koide (Science journalist, formerly Chief Science Editor for Yomiuri Newspaper)
Participants	Those who can communicate in English.
Capacity	30 people
Admission Fee	700 yen
Schedule	16:00 - 17:30
Registration	Closed
Language	English
Flyer	PDF
Inquiries	International Public Communications Office CiRA, Kyoto University TEL: 075-366-7005 e-mail: cira-prcira.kyoto-u.ac.jp Please change to @.
Description	Exciting opportunities to study the molecular mechanisms that cause inherited diseases are being provided by new methods of producing stem cells. These techniques make it possible to produce from a patient cells that are equivalent to those early in their life. In principle many inherited diseases may be studied in this way including Motor Neuron Disease, schizophrenia, some forms of cancer and causes of sudden heart failure. In addition, human cells in the laboratory may provide important new approaches to the safety testing of new drugs. This has the potential to greatly increase the efficiency of drug development and reduce the costs involved. This Cafe Science event will not only look at the potential value of these new methods and also the manner in which their development was prompted by research to clone a sheep but also look at some of the ethical considerations involved.

About FIRST Program

The FIRST Program was created in 2010 to advance competitive research carried out in various fields in Japan. The Council for Science and Technology Policy in the Cabinet Office selected 30 top researchers are expected to gain the top leadership in the world within five years in their respective fields. Prof. Shinya Yamanaka is one of the 30 scientists and is promoting a project to bring iPS cell technology from the bench to the bed.

For more information, visit the websites:
FIRST Program http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-first/

iPS Cell Research Project for Regenerative Medicine
http://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ips-rm/?lang=en

Monitoring and robust induction of nephrogenic intermediate mesoderm from human pluripotent stem cells

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:37:45 +0900

The research group led by Associate Professor Kenji Osafune and his colleague Shin-ichi Mae, both from CiRA, Kyoto University, has succeeded in developing a highly efficient method of inducing human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to differentiate into intermediate mesoderm, the precursor of kidney, gonad, and other cell lineages. This represents a major step toward realizing renal regeneration.

As nearly all kidney cells are derived through differentiation from intermediate mesoderm, to realize kidney regeneration requires first the development of an efficient technology for differentiating human iPS or embryonic stem (ES) cells into intermediate mesoderm.

The research team established a method through which fluorescent protein can be readily inserted into the human iPS/ES cell genome through homologous recombination and used it in human iPS cells to successfully introduce green fluorescent protein (GFP) into Odd-skipped related 1: (OSR1), a marker gene for intermediate mesoderm differentiation. This makes it possible to ascertain whether differentiation into the target intermediate mesoderm cells has been achieved.

The system was then used to establish a protocol for inducing iPS cell differentiation into intermediate mesoderm which produced a high success rate of 90% or more. It was confirmed that the resulting human intermediate mesoderm was able to differentiate into various types of kidney cell, and renal tubule structures were successfully generated.

The findings indicate the possibility of using iPS cells to create a supply of cells for use in renal regenerative medicine. The differentiation system developed by the researchers is also expected to provide a new research tool to help elucidate the developmental mechanism of intermediate mesoderm.

The next step required is to develop a technique that allows efficient and specific differentiation into kidney cells using intermediate mesoderm derived from human iPS/ES cells. As intermediate mesoderm is known to differentiate into the three different lineages of kidney, adrenal cortex, and gonad cells, the new technique has potential application in regenerative medicine not only for the kidney but also for the adrenal cortex and gonad.

These findings were published online in Nature Communications on January 22 GMT.

Green parts are intermediate mesoderm cells differentiated from human iPS cell

Scale bar : 100 micrometer

"Monitoring and robust induction of nephrogenic intermediate mesoderm from human pluripotent stem cells"

Shin-Ichi Mae, Akemi Shono, Fumihiko Shiota, Tetsuhiko Yasuno, Masatoshi Kajiwara, Nanaka Gotoda-Nishimura, Sayaka Arai, Aiko Sato-Otubo, Taro Toyoda, Kazutoshi Takahashi, Naoki Nakayama, Chad A. Cowan, Takashi Aoi, Seishi Ogawa, Andrew P. McMahon, Shinya Yamanaka and Kenji Osafune

Kenji Osafune Laboratory: http://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/e/research/osafume_summary.html

Three-dimensional design method for protein-responsive RNA switch to regulate cell fate

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:26:45 +0900

In a joint research project with Professor Tan Inoue (Kyoto University Graduate School of Biostudies), the research group of Associate Professor Hirohide Saito and Shunichi Kashida (CiRA Department of Reprogramming Science) has used three-dimensional modeling to perform molecular design of RNA-protein interactions, resulting in the successful development of an RNA switch⁽¹⁾ capable of regulating the effect of RNA interference (RNAi)⁽²⁾ in response to intracellular conditions. The research findings were published in the British scientific journal Nucleic Acids Research on October 18, 2012, as a Featured Article - a category representing the top 5% of articles in terms of quality - and appeared on the journal's front cover.

By modifying short-hairpin RNA (shRNA)⁽³⁾, the research group had previously succeeded in developing an RNA switch to regulate the survival of target cells expressing specific proteins (Saito H., et al. Nat. Commun. 2:160, 2011). This switch was able to regulate target gene expression in response to intracellular production of specific proteins. However, before this device could be applied in medical or biological science, including in the differentiation of iPS cells into target cell types, researchers still needed to establish the relevant action mechanism so as to develop switches responsive to a range of human-derived proteins.

shRNA causes the phenomenon known as RNA interference (RNAi), whereby target gene expression is suppressed through cleavage by Dicer (an RNA-cleaving enzyme). If a specific protein binds RNA in such a way as to block the Dicer cleavage site, it can therefore be expected to prevent RNA interference. The researchers first of all used 3D molecular modeling software to create a computer-based reproduction of the 3D structure of the shRNA switch and Dicer and of their spatial relationship at the time of cleavage. This indicated that altering the length of the shRNA double-chain site might make it possible to adjust the position of the protein that binds to the Dicer cleavage site in such a way as to bring it closer toward collision with Dicer.

In the next step, the intracellular introduction of an shRNA switch that inhibits cleavage by Dicer through binding of U1A (a protein present in human cells) did indeed show that the action of RNAi could be suppressed in response to intracellular U1A production (Figure 1). Also, to confirm the versatility of the 3D molecular design method, an RNA sequence that binds to a transcription factor (NF-kB) expressed in a range of cancer cells was incorporated in the shRNA. As expected, it was found that the effect of RNAi could be suppressed in response to the intracellular expression of this transcription factor.

Figure 1 3D molecular model showing: above: projected 3D steric hindrance between Dicer and the protein binding to the shRNA switch; below: evaluation of the intracellular function of the shRNA switch

With an shRNA predicted not to inhibit the action of Dicer (above left), RNAi against enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was not suppressed and no expression of EGFP was observed (below left). With the shRNA predicted to inhibit cleavage by Dicer (above right), RNAi was blocked and EGFP expression was observed (below right).

The researchers applied 3D molecular modeling to the molecular design of RNA-protein interactions to successfully develop an RNA switch capable of regulating the effect of RNA interference (RNAi) in response to the presence or absence in human cultured cells of specific proteins. This design method can be used to predict and to optimize the intracellular function of RNA switches responsive to specific proteins. Among the future applications of this method will be technology to regulate the fate of target cells in response to intracellular conditions and technology to efficiently select only cells that have differentiated into a specific cell type. It is thus envisaged as a new tool for developing methods of inducing differentiation of iPS cells into target cells.

The present research was carried out in partnership between Kyoto University Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University Graduate School of Biostudies, and the Kyoto University Hakubi Project.

Title of Paper

Three-dimensionally designed protein-responsive RNA devices for cell signaling regulation

Authors

Shunnichi Kashida, Tan Inoue*, and Hirohide Saito*

* corresponding author

Funding

The present research was undertaken with financial support from the following institutions

1. Japan Science and Technology Agency, International Cooperative Research Project (ICORP), RNA Synthetic Biology Project

2. New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Financial support to young researchers

3. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research; Young Scientists A

4. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Research Fellowships for Young Scientists (DC2)

5. Takeda Science Foundation, Life Science Research Grant

Notes

1) RNA switch

The present research used RNA-protein interactions triggered by shRNAs that induce RNAi to render the RNAi mechanism inoperative only in the case of intracellular expression of the target protein. In other words, when target protein A is not expressed, the RNAi mechanism operates so that the target mRNA is cleaved and synthesis of protein B from the target mRNA is switched off. However, when target protein A is expressed, the mechanism of RNAi is inhibited, the target mRNA is not cleaved, and the synthesis of protein B proceeds.

2) RNA interference (RNAi)

A method of suppressing the expression of a chosen gene using double-chain RNA formed within the cell. Its originators, Andrew Fire and Craig Melo, were awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Research is now progressing into the application of RNAi to drug research.

3) shRNA

Abbreviation of short hairpin RNA, a kind of RNA named for its shape. It is used to suppress the action of RNAi on target genes.

Scientific paper on generation of paraxial mesodermal cells from iPS cells published in PLOS ONE

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:09:28 +0900

In a joint project with the research team of Professor Atsuko Sehara (Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University), the research group of Hidetoshi Sakurai (lecturer, CiRA Department of Clinical Application) has established a method for efficiently inducing differentiation of mouse iPS cells⁽¹⁾ into the paraxial mesodermal⁽²⁾ cells that are the progenitors of bone, cartilage, and skeletal muscle cells. The team also became the world's first researchers to successfully isolate paraxial mesoderm from human iPS cells. The scientific paper was published in the U.S. scientific journal PLOS ONE (October 24, 2012, issue).

iPS cells have promising potential as a source of transplant cells for regenerative medicine and as a tool for drug-discovery research based on reproduction of disease states. But to fulfill this potential, iPS cells must first be differentiated into the target cell type. Numerous protocols for inducing differentiation have so far been developed using insights gained from developmental biology.

Meanwhile, findings from developmental biology research have shown that bone, cartilage, and skeletal muscle are differentiated from a cell type known as paraxial mesoderm. In humans, however, the path of differentiation from pluripotent stem cells such as iPS cells and ES cells⁽³⁾ into paraxial mesoderm had not been clarified.

Building on the results of previous research in mouse ES cells, the research project demonstrated that, in order to efficiently induce differentiation of paraxial mesodermal cells from mouse iPS cells, Activin A⁽⁴⁾ signaling is essential in the initial stage of cell culture. It was also confirmed that paraxial mesodermal cells obtained using this method have the ability to differentiate into bone, cartilage, and skeletal muscle cells through cell culture, and the ability to regenerate skeletal muscle following transplantation into mouse.

Up to now, there had been no method of distinguishing paraxial mesodermal cells from other human iPS cells, but the new research established that, like mouse cells, paraxial mesodermal cells can be identified from the expression of two marker proteins (PDGFRa and KDR). Specifically, in human cells cultured for approximately one week, a cell group that was positive for PDGFRa and negative for KDR showed high expression of marker genes specific to paraxial mesodermal cells. It was additionally confirmed that these cells had the ability to differentiate into bone, cartilage, and skeletal muscle.

It is hoped that these findings will constitute the first step toward developing an efficient method for induced differentiation of bone, cartilage, and skeletal muscle cells.

The present research was carried out in partnership between the Kyoto University Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, CiRA, Kyoto University Graduate School of Biostudies, and Kitasato University School of Science.

Title of Paper

In vitro modeling of paraxial mesodermal progenitors derived from induced pluripotent stem cells

Authors

Hidetoshi Sakurai^1,2*, Yasuko Sakaguchi^1,3, Emi Shoji¹, Tokiko Nishino², Izumi Maki², Hiroshi Sakai¹, Kazunori Hanaoka⁴, Akira Kakizuka³, and Atsuko Sehara-Fujisawa¹

Affiliated Institution

¹Department of Growth Regulation, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
²Department of Clinical Application, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
³Laboratory of Functional Biology, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
⁴Molecular Embryology, Department of Bioscience, School of Science, Kitasato University, Kanagawa, Japan

Notes

1) iPS cells

Induced pluripotent stem cells: pluripotent stem cells similar to ES cells but created by transducing specific factors into somatic cells. Their first ever successful generation was reported in 2006 by Professor Shinya Yamanaka's research team using mouse somatic cells.

2) paraxial mesoderm

A cell population that appears in vertebrates at a certain stage of individual development and develops into supportive tissue including muscle, bone, cartilage, and skin.

3) ES cells

Embryonic stem cells: ES cells are a type of pluripotent stem cell which can differentiate into the cells of any tissue type. Created by culturing cells extracted from the blastocyst at six or seven days after fertilization, their generation requires the destruction of the fertilized egg and therefore involves ethical issues. As they cannot be created from the patient's own cells, the risk of immune rejection is a concern.

4) Activin

A type of hormone, found in the follicular fluid, that promotes the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone. In the subsequent developmental process, it is known to be involved in promoting cell differentiation, and to have a wide range of other physiological activities including induction of hemoglobin synthesis and promotion of insulin secretion from the pancreas.

Call for poster presentation (CiRA International Symposium 2013)

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:44:19 +0900

CiRA International Symposium 2013 is held on March 11-12. We plan to hold not only lectures but poster sessions to increase opportunities for discussion among participants. Now, abstract submission date is postponed to February 1 (Friday), 2013. Please send us your poster abstract.

http://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ips-rm/?p=1322&lang=en

A notice on lecture requests to CiRA Director/Professor Shinya Yamanaka

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:22:38 +0900

We have received a large number of lecture invitations to Prof. Shinya Yamanaka. We are greatly honored that he was chosen as a speaker. However, it is difficult for him to accept them until August 2014 because he would like to concentrate on his research and is busy with many official duties for the time being.

We will give you instructions on how to request him to give lectures at meetings to be held after September 1, 2014, on this website in the near future. Your kind understanding would be appreciated.

CiRA Scheduling Management Committee

CiRA Newsletter Vol.1 is available now.

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 09:02:38 +0900

CiRA Newsletter has been released. The latest research findings and events are reported.

You can read the Newsletter at the website below.

http://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/e/pressrelease/html-newsletters/vol01/

We have the CiRA page on facebook.

There are many pictures and topics about CiRA Activity.

Please check the facebook page below.

Photos (Nobel prize) here

CiRA facebook page here

CiRA International Symposium 2013 to be held on March 11 - 12

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:36:09 +0900

CiRA organizes an international symposium annually, to promote the worldwide dissemination of its research results and to advance iPS cell research. In the 2013 symposium, we plan to hold not only lectures but poster sessions to increase opportunities for discussion among participants. All stem cell researchers and students are welcome to participate.

March 11 - 12, 2013

Ian Wilmut, Hans R. Schöler, Konrad Hochedlinger, Richard A. Young, Austin Smith,
John Gurdon, Deepak Srivastava, Kevin C. Eggan, Shin-Ichi Nishikawa, Hideyuki Okano,
Amy Wagers, Hiromitsu Nakauchi, Mahendra Rao, Shinya Yamanaka

http://www.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ips-rm/?p=1322&lang=en

We apologize for being so slow to reply to you.

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:03:44 +0900

Thank you for visiting our website.
We have received many messages since the announcement that Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. We read and give a reply to every message. A good deal of time is needed to respond all the messages. We are afraid that some of the messages will be responded later.
Your patience and understanding would be deeply appreciated.

Office of the International Public Communications
Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University

CiRA Director Shinya Yamanaka Wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:35:00 +0900

October 8, 2012, Kyoto, Japan - Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent. Cowinner is Sir John B. Gurdon, Distinguished Group Leader in the Wellcome Trust/CRUK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge.

Dr. Yamanaka, who also serves as a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco, and his research team generated iPS cells by introducing four genes - Oct3/4, Klf4, Sox2 and c-Myc - into somatic cells for the first time in the world. iPS cells, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of growing robustly and differentiating into any type of cells in the human body. He announced the generation of mouse iPS cells in 2006 and human iPS cells in 2007.

The discovery of iPS cells is a breakthrough in the research field of nuclear reprogramming, which turns back the clock of differentiated cells into an undifferentiated state. This technology has opened up possible applications in understanding pathology, drug discovery and development, and cell therapies.

"Winning the prize would be not only a tremendous honor for me, but also a powerful encouragement for myself, my colleagues, and all the scientists working with iPS cells to continue research activities," Dr. Yamanaka said. "I will work harder with my colleagues to develop effective drugs and new therapy for intractable diseases using patient-derived iPS cells."

iPS cell technology patents granted in Japan and the United States

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:17:55 +0900

Kyoto University has been granted four patents relating to its basic iPS cell technology, one in Japan and three in the United States, the university said Tuesday, Sept. 18. Two of the US patents have already completed patent registration and the remaining two patents are due for registration within a month.

The patent granted in Japan (application no. 2007-550210) relates to basic technology for induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), which were successfully generated as a world first by the research group of Professor Shinya Yamanaka, Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA).

One of the three patents granted in the US is a patent (application no. 12/213,035) relating to technology developed by Yamanaka's group. The other two (application nos. 12/157,967 and 12/484,163) are patents assigned to Kyoto University by the US bioventure iPierian with effect from January 27, 2011.

Kyoto University has already obtained three Japanese patents relating to basic iPS cell technology. The granting of the new patent brings the total number of Japanese patents to four. In the US, where CiRA has to date acquired three patents relating to basic iPS cell technology, the newly obtained patents bring the total number of the US patents to six.

CiRA believes that the acquisition of the four new patents will contribute, in both Japan and the US, to creating an environment in which a large number of enterprises can feel confident about undertaking iPS cell research, screening of drug candidate substances, and other elements of applied research.

With the ambition of realizing medical application of iPS cells at the earliest possible date, Kyoto University is committed to continuing to promote widespread interest in iPS cell technology and related research.