Deciphering the impact of diet-induced obesity on cellular reprogramming and pluripotency

Abstract

The world is facing a nutrition crisis, most clearly evidenced by unhealthy eating patterns like diet-induced obesity (DIO). This metabolic disorder is linked to serious health issues, including cardiovascular and liver diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Research indicates that DIO alters cellular and molecular processes associated with these health problems, underscoring the need to address this crisis from multiple angles, including regenerative medicine. In this context, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), generated through somatic cell reprogramming (SCR), hold great therapeutic potential for personalized regenerative medicine due to their ability to self-renew indefinitely and differentiate into any cell type within an adult organism. However, much of the research on SCR has focused on fibroblasts from standard dietary conditions due to their easier manipulation and higher reprogramming efficiency.