Rhesus Macaque iPSC Generation and Maintenance.

The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) is physiologically and phylogenetically similar to humans, and therefore represents an invaluable model for the pre-clinical assessment of the safety and feasibility of iPSC-derived cell therapies. The use of an excisable polycistronic lentiviral STEMCCA vector to reprogram rhesus fibroblasts or bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) into RhiPSCs is described. After reprogramming, the pluripotency transgenes can be removed by transient expression of Cre, leaving a residual genetic tag that may be useful for identification of RhiPSC-derived tissues in vivo. Finally, the steps to maintain pluripotency during passaging of RhiPSCs, required for successful utilization of RhiPSCs, is described. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.