Human c-Myc Adenovirus (Ad-h-Myc)

The Myc family of genes are proto-oncogenes implicated in cancer. Yamanaka demonstrated that c-myc is a factor implicated in the generation of mouse and human iPS cells. However, Thomson and Yamanaka also reported that c-myc was unnecessary for generation of human iPS cells. Usage of the "myc" family of genes in induction of iPS cells is troubling for the eventuality of iPS cells as clinical therapies, as 25% of mice transplanted with c-myc-induced iPS cells developed lethal teratomas. N-myc and L-myc have been identified to induce instead of c-myc with similar efficiency.Co-expression of Oct4, Sox2, KLF4 and c-Myc (Yamanaka set) in somatic cell will lead to iPSC reprogramming. Using adenovirus to deliver these transcription factors has 2 main advantages - it does not incorporate into the targeted host and therefore avoids the potential for insertional mutagenesis, and the expression is transient for a brief amount of time in order for effective reprogramming to take place. This adenovirus expresses human c-Myc, and it can be used in combination with other iPSC factor for the induction of iPSC reprogramming.