The application of iPSCs to questions in virology: A historical perspective

Abstract

Viruses are obligate parasites in that they can only replicate within a living host cell. Thus the science of virology is largely dependent upon the requirement to be able to grow and propagate such host cells. While it is relatively simple to be able to grow and maintain suitable host cells for viruses that infect prokaryotic cells, the situation is more complicated when eukaryotic host cells are required for viral propagation. Studies on eukaryotic viruses are thus often a compromise between the ease of propagation of the host cell and the fidelity of the propagated cells to the bona fide host cell. Until recently the choice was largely between primary cells (high fidelity, low ease of propagation) or immortalized and transformed cells (low fidelity, high ease of propagation). More recently, the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which have high fidelity and relatively high ease of propagation, has introduced a third option. This chapter will present the historical context of the application of iPSCs to questions in virology and describe how these cells are currently being used.