Research Outline

-iPS cells are known to exhibit variations in differentiation potential and function among clones. Elucidating the causes of “clone-to-clone variation” is a major challenge not only for understanding the cell characteristics in basic research but also for ensuring the reliability and standardization of their clinical applications.
To visualize and overcome this variation, we employ the DNA barcoding technology cloneselect (Ishiguro et al., 2025, Nature Biotechnol.).

-This research aims to provide a new framework for quantitatively and systematically understanding the heterogeneity within iPS cells, ultimately enhancing the reliability and reproducibility of iPS cell technologies.

-First, we transfect  DNA barcodes into fibroblasts to generate iPS cells. We then induce differentiation into the trilineage (ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm) as well as into organoids, while tracking and quantifying the contribution rate of each clone within each differentiation lineages. This approach enables the identification and isolation of iPS cell clones that display distinct differentiation characteristics or functional phenotypes, enabling the way for a more efficient and homogenous differentiation induction system.

-This method has potential for applications in disease model construction, clone selection in drug screening, elucidating drug mechanisms through phenotypic screening, hence advancing personalized medicine.