Generation and Characterization of Rat iPSCs.

The laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is now on the leading edge used as a laboratory model system to study pharmacology, toxicology, immunology, nutrition, behavior, and numerous other topics. Therefore, generation of rat induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) through somatic cells reprogramming is a powerful tool for establishing in vitro disease model, development of new protocols for treatment of different diseases, and creating transgenic rat models. Here, we describe a simple adopted protocol for establishing rat iPSCs from different types of somatic cells including rat primary ear fibroblast (PEF) and primary bone marrow cells (BMC).