Reconstruction of the upper airway after the resection of malignancies or stenotic inflammatory lesions is thought to be difficult. Postoperative scarring or granulation with stenosis is sometimes observed. Therefore, the regeneration of the respiratory tract with full functionality is vital after surgical treatment for cancer or inflammatory lesions.ES cell-like pluripotent cells, also known as induced pluripotent stem（iPS）cells, were generated from mouse skin fibroblasts by the introduction of 4 transcription factors in 2006. These cells are capable of unlimited symmetrical self-renewal, and thus provide an unlimited source of cells for tissue-engineering applications. In addition, the use of iPS cells obtained from patient-derived somatic cells can prevent transplant rejection.In this paper, using a technique for the differentiation of iPS cells, respiratory epithelium-like tissue was histologically observed, and the ciliary epithelium was immunohistologically confirmed. The transcript expression levels of CK14 were significantly increased in hiPS hVFF cultures. The cellular morphology was clearly cohesive and displayed a degree of nuclear polarity, which was suggestive of epithelial differentiation.Our results suggest that iPS cells could be a new source cells for use in the regeneration of the tracheal and laryngeal epithelium.
