Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be generated from adult somatic 
tissues by the forced expression of a few defined transcription factors, 
including Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. iPSC technology holds tremendous promises 
for therapeutic cardiovascular regeneration because of the cells' unlimited 
capacity for proliferation and differentiation into all cell lineages. The iPSCs 
can be generated from somatic cells of patients with a genetic basis for their 
disease so as to understand the pathobiology of the disorder. This disease 
modeling can be adapted to high-throughput screens to discover new therapeutic 
molecules. Finally, the iPSC technology may enable personalized cell therapies, 
while avoiding the ethical concerns surrounding human embryonic stem cells. 
Intensive efforts are underway to develop reliable methods to guide stem cell 
differentiation into cardiovascular lineages in the treatment of peripheral 
artery disease and heart diseases. Studies of disease pathogenesis and drug 
discovery using iPSC technology shall advance the discovery of novel treatments 
for cardiovascular diseases.