Fig. 8

Diagram illustrating factors influencing the genome stability of iPSCs. Environmental factors contribute to genomic variations in lv-iPSCs. In response to double-strand DNA breaks, lv-iPSCs always adopt the error-prone NHEJ repair pathway. The resulting low fidelity of DNA repair makes the lv-iPSC genome unstable and the cells more vulnerable to environmental stress. Genomic stability of iPSCs appears to depend on the method used to generate them: ci-iPSCs show greater stability than lv-iPSCs. HR homologous recombination repair pathway, IR ionizing radiation, NHEJ non-homologous end joining