Functional maturation of immature β cells: A roadblock for stem cell therapy for type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic autoimmune disease caused by the specific destruction of pancreatic islet cells and is characterized as the absolute insufficiency of insulin secretion. Current insulin replacement therapy supplies insulin in a non-physiological way and is associated with devastating complications. Experimental islet transplantation therapy has been proven to restore glucose homeostasis in people with severe T1DM. However, it is restricted by many factors such as severe shortage of donor sources, progressive loss of donor cells, high cost, etc. As pluripotent stem cells have the potential to give rise to all cells including islet cells in the body, stem cell therapy for diabetes has attracted great attention in the academic community and the general public. Transplantation of islet -like cells differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has the potential to be an excellent alternative to islet transplantation. In stem cell therapy, obtaining cells with complete insulin secretion in vitro is crucial. However, after much research, it has been found that the -like cells obtained by in vitro differentiation still have many defects, including lack of adult-type glucose stimulated insulin secretion, and multihormonal secretion, suggesting that in vitro culture does not allows for obtaining fully mature -like cells for transplantation. A large number of studies have found that many transcription factors play important roles in the process of transforming immature to mature human islet cells. Furthermore, PDX1, NKX6.1, SOX9, NGN3, PAX4, etc., are important in inducing hPSC differentiation in vitro. The absent or deficient expression of any of these key factors may lead to

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