Elimination of Teratogenic Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells by Bee Venom via calcium-calpain pathway

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are regarded as a promising option for cell-based regenerative medicine. To obtain safe and efficient iPSC-based cell products, it is necessary to selectively eliminate the residual iPSCs prior to in vivo implantation to eliminate the risk of teratoma formation. Bee venom (BV) has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat inflammatory diseases and relieve pain, and has been shown to exhibit anti-cancer, anti-mutagenic, anti-nociceptive, and radioprotective activities. However, the potential benefits of BV in iPSC therapy, particularly its anti-teratoma activity, have not been examined. In this study, we tried to measure the effects of BV on expression of genes in iPSCs. Overall design: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) established from human foreskin fibroblasts were treated with BV.