As part of the COST Action CA21151 – HAPLO-iPS, Pedro Vicente completed a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) at the Stem Cell Bank, Regenerative Medicine Program of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Spain. The mission focused on gaining hands-on expertise in the generation and maintenance of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) from primary cells using non-integrative reprogramming approaches.
During the mission, Pedro Vicente gained practical experience in the reprogramming of bone marrow mononuclear cells using Sendai virus technology under feeder-free conditions. The training covered several stages of the reprogramming workflow, including preparation and culture of primary cells, Sendai virus-mediated transduction, seeding on Matrigel, monitoring of cultures for the emergence of hiPSC colonies, assessment of colony morphology, and manual picking of individual colonies for further expansion.
The training was complemented by experience with an alternative non-integrating reprogramming strategy based on episomal plasmids. In addition, Pedro Vicente gained hands-on experience in the routine culture and maintenance of established hiPSC lines, including cleaning, cell splitting and cryopreservation.
The experience will support the implementation and optimization of hiPSC reprogramming approaches at the home institution (iBET) and contribute to the development of further hiPSC-based research activities.
The knowledge and skills acquired during the mission will also contribute to knowledge transfer and capacity building within the HAPLO-iPS network, supporting the broader objective of promoting the development and harmonization of hiPSC generation methodologies and facilitating future scientific exchange and collaborative research between the institutions.