Deng Hongkui's research group of Peking University recently published a research paper entitled "Efficient and rapid preparation of human pluripotent stem cells using chemical Reprogramming" in the international academic journal Cell Stem Cells. This research has established a new chemical Reprogramming system to more quickly and efficiently induce human somatic cell into pluripotent stem cells. The team members introduced that pluripotent stem cells have the ability of unlimited self-renewal and differentiation into all functional cell types of organisms. These magical characteristics make them have extensive application value in cell therapy, drug screening, disease modeling and other fields, and they are the most critical "seed cells" in the field of regenerative medicine. How to induce and obtain pluripotent stem cells in vitro has always been a key scientific issue in the field of life sciences. In 2013, Deng Hongkui's research group published an original achievement in the journal Science, that is, it does not rely on endogenous substances such as oocytes and transcription factors, and can reverse the fate of cells only by using exogenous chemical small molecules. It reprogrammed mouse somatic cell cells into pluripotent stem cells (CiPS cells), opening up a new path for somatic cell Reprogramming. In 2022, Deng Hongkui's research team made a new breakthrough, successfully inducing human somatic cell into multipotential stem cells (human CiPS cells) using small chemical molecules. The essence of life is a chemical process. It is theoretically the most effective way to regulate the fate of cells through small chemical molecules. There are essential differences between chemical Reprogramming and traditional Reprogramming technology: traditional transgenic Reprogramming technology, such as induced pluripotent stem cell technology (iPS technology), drives the direct transformation of cell fate through the overexpression of endogenous transcription factors, and its induction process is difficult to control; Chemical Reprogramming uses exogenous small chemical molecules to simulate external signal stimulation and drive cell fate to change in a phased manner. Therefore, this method has strong controllability and is expected to achieve precise regulation of cell fate, reversal of cell identity and functional status, making reverse development possible. In this latest research achievement, Deng Hongkui's research team has established a more rapid, efficient and stable human cytochemistry Reprogramming method. The researchers found a new combination of small chemical molecules, which greatly accelerated the Reprogramming process. The induction period was shortened from 50 days to 30 days, and the shortest induction period was 16 days. At the same time, the induction efficiency has significantly improved, reaching up to 31%. The new system was tested on somatic cell cells from 17 individuals of different genetic backgrounds and ages, all of which can achieve efficient induction, accelerating the pace of extensive application of human CiPS cells in cell therapy, drug screening and disease models. According to previous reports by the research team, the original system went through the stages of epithelial like cells, plastic intermediate state cells, and XEN like cells during the induction of human CiPS cells, ultimately establishing pluripotent stem cells. The research found that the new system is more rapid and efficient in molecular mechanism: plastic intermediate cells significantly enhance their proliferation ability and oxidative phosphorylation metabolic activity, no longer go through the XEN like stage, pluripotency gene activation is more rapid, and the molecular path is more direct. of particular