Pathways to New β Cells

摘要

Diabetes is a leading health problem of the world and its prevalence continues to rise. With Type 1 diabetes, and in somepatients with Type II, the lack of insulin can be counterbalanced by providing new 13 (insulin-producing) cells. For Type I dia-betes, treating the autoimmune attack remains a serious challenge. Several strategies to produce new f3 cells have been pro-posed. These include differentiation from embryonic stem cells, proliferation of existing adult 13 cells, derivation from putativeadult progenitors/stem cells, and reprogramming of non-13 cells to 13 cells. Each of these strategies has distinct merits and risks,and they are at different stages of understanding and development. In particular, the approach based on differentiation fromembryonic stem cells has had strong support and in recent years has made notable progress. Nevertheless, significant hurdlesremain to transform the current research into future therapies. To expedite this transformation, we believe particular empha-sis should be placed on overcoming key knowledge gaps in 13-cell biology, developing strategies that produce patient-specificβcells, and carefully addressing potential treatment-related complications or limitations.