2. Academic Validation
  3. Chemical reprogramming of human somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells

Chemical reprogramming of human somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells

  • Nature. 2022 May;605(7909):325-331. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04593-5.
Jingyang Guan  # 1,  Guan Wang  # 1 2,  Jinlin Wang  # 3,  Zhengyuan Zhang  # 1,  Yao Fu  # 1,  Lin Cheng  # 1,  Gaofan Meng  # 1,  Yulin Lyu  # 4,  Jialiang Zhu 1,  Yanqin Li 5,  Yanglu Wang 1,  Shijia Liuyang 1,  Bei Liu 1,  Zirun Yang 1 2,  Huanjing He 1,  Xinxing Zhong 1 2,  Qijing Chen 1,  Xu Zhang 1,  Shicheng Sun 1,  Weifeng Lai 1,  Yan Shi 1,  Lulu Liu 1,  Lipeng Wang 1,  Cheng Li 4,  Shichun Lu 6,  Hongkui Deng 7 8
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 MOE Engineering Research Center of Regenerative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University Health Science Center and the MOE Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, China.
  • 3 MOE Engineering Research Center of Regenerative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University Health Science Center and the MOE Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China. jlw_laputa@163.com.
  • 4 School of Life Sciences, Center for Bioinformatics, Center for Statistical Science, Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • 5 Institute of Systems Biomedicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
  • 6 Faculty of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Institute of Hepatobiliary Surgery of Chinese PLA, Key Laboratory of Digital Hepatobiliary Surgery, PLA, Beijing, China. lsc620213@aliyun.com.
  • 7 MOE Engineering Research Center of Regenerative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University Health Science Center and the MOE Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China. hongkui_deng@pku.edu.cn.
  • 8 State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, China. hongkui_deng@pku.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 35418683 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04593-5
Abstract

Cellular reprogramming can manipulate the identity of cells to generate the desired cell types1-3. The use of cell intrinsic components, including oocyte cytoplasm and transcription factors, can enforce somatic cell reprogramming to pluripotent stem cells4-7. By contrast, chemical stimulation by exposure to small molecules offers an alternative approach that can manipulate cell fate in a simple and highly controllable manner8-10. However, human somatic cells are refractory to chemical stimulation owing to their stable epigenome2,11,12 and reduced plasticity13,14; it is therefore challenging to induce human pluripotent stem cells by chemical reprogramming. Here we demonstrate, by creating an intermediate plastic state, the chemical reprogramming of human somatic cells to human chemically induced pluripotent stem cells that exhibit key features of embryonic stem cells. The whole chemical reprogramming trajectory analysis delineated the induction of the intermediate plastic state at the early stage, during which chemical-induced dedifferentiation occurred, and this process was similar to the dedifferentiation process that occurs in axolotl limb regeneration. Moreover, we identified the JNK pathway as a major barrier to chemical reprogramming, the inhibition of which was indispensable for inducing cell plasticity and a regeneration-like program by suppressing pro-inflammatory pathways. Our chemical approach provides a platform for the generation and application of human pluripotent stem cells in biomedicine. This study lays foundations for developing regenerative therapeutic strategies that use well-defined chemicals to change cell fates in humans.

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