Deng Hongkui’s Group from Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School published their new work on Science with the title “Pluripotent Stem Cells Induced from Mouse Somatic Cells by Small-Molecule Compounds”. Pluripotent stem cells can be induced from somatic cells, providing an unlimited cell resource, with potential for studying disease and use in regenerative medicine. However, genetic manipulation and technically challenging strategies such as nuclear transfer used in reprogramming limit their clinical applications. This study shows that pluripotent stem cells can be generated from mouse somatic cells using a combination of seven small-molecule compounds. The chemically induced pluripotent stem cells resemble embryonic stem cells in terms of their gene expression profiles, epigenetic status, and potential for differentiation and germline transmission. By using small molecules, exogenous “master genes” are dispensable for cell fate reprogramming. This chemical reprogramming strategy is a great breakthrough in somatic reprogramming techniques, and has potential use in generating functional desirable cell types for clinical applications.
