Regeneration of Islet Beta-Cells from Stem Cells and Progenitors

The diabetes population sizes increasing rapidly all over the world. The transplant of insulin-producing β-cells into diabetic patients is considered to be a promising alternative to traditional insulin therapy for diabetes treatment. Pancreatic β-cell is one of the most important cell types in the islet of Langerhans in the pancreas, which is responsible for insulin secretion in leveraging blood glucose level. However, cell-based therapy for diabetes treatment is currently impeded due largely to the inability to produce large amounts of biologically functional β-cells through in vitro cultivation system. Human stem cells, including induced pluripotent stem cells, adult stem cells, and progenitor cells, have been considered to be promising cell sources for generating insulin secreting β-cells. Nevertheless, generating functional β-cells from these cell types remains a significant challenge. This article provides updated research results on the current status of the search for efficient and reproducible islet β-cell production approaches from stem cell and progenitor differentiation.