Vitamin C enhances the generation of mouse and human induced pluripotent stem cells

Somatic cells can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by defined factors. However, the low efficiency and slow kinetics of the reprogramming process have hampered progress with this technology. Prof Duanqing Pei’s group reported that a natural compound, vitamin C (Vc), enhances iPSC generation from both mouse and human somatic cells. Their findings have been published on Cell Stem Cell (Cover).

Vc acts at least in part by alleviating cell senescence, a recently identified roadblock for reprogramming. In addition, Vc accelerates gene expression changes and promotes the transition of pre-iPSC colonies to a fully reprogrammed state. The results from Prof Pei’s lab therefore highlighted a straightforward method for improving the speed and efficiency of iPSC generation and provided additional insights into the mechanistic basis of the reprogramming process.