English: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) closely resemble early embryonic cells and can differentiate into any human cell type when exposed to the appropriate developmental cues. Beyond their therapeutic potential as patient-specific platforms for cell and gene therapies, iPSCs are powerful research tools. Unlike primary donor cells, they can be precisely gene edited, enabling the installation of molecular components such as synthetic biosensors, fluorescent reporters, destabilised proteins, and drug-inducible expression or CRISPR systems before differentiation into physiologically relevant cell types of interest.

This confocal microscopy image shows iPSC-derived airway epithelial cells, analogous to those lining the human trachea and bronchi, cultured at an air–liquid interface for 110 days to promote functional maturation. Secretory cells (red) produce mucus that captures inhaled particles and pathogens, while the hair-like cilia (coral) on multiciliated cells generate coordinated beating that drives the mucociliary conveyor, transporting trapped material toward the oropharynx for clearance.

Images were acquired on a Zeiss LSM900 confocal microscope with an Airyscan 2 detector using a 63×/1.4 NA oil-immersion objective (MCRI Flow and Imaging Core). Three channels (FITC, 568, 647) were collected sequentially across 75 z-slices spanning 15 µm, with 43 nm XY and 200 nm Z sampling. Lateral resolution ranged from ~133–171 nm across channels based on the Rayleigh criterion with 1.7× Airyscan enhancement. Image processing was performed in ImageJ using custom LUTs, brightness/contrast adjustments, and maximum-intensity projection.