Abstract

Direct reprogramming technology has emerged as an outstanding technique for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and various specialized cells directly from somatic cells of different species. Reprogramming techniques conventionally use viral vectors encoding transcription factors to induce fate conversion. However, the introduction of transgenes limits the therapeutic applications of the reprogrammed cells. To overcome safety-related concerns, small molecules offer some advantages over the existing methods for the control of gene expression and induction of cell fate conversion. Technical advances in optimizing concentrations, durations, structures, and combinations of small molecules make chemical reprogramming a safe and feasible method. This review provides a concise overview of cutting-edge fi ndings regarding chemical-only reprogramming as one of the integration-free approaches to iPSC generation.