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The pancreas harbours a small population of insulin-producing stem cells — cells that might one day be harnessed to replace damaged cells in people with diabetes.
Whether new insulin-producing β-cells in the adult pancreas develop from stem cells has been hotly debated. Simon Smukler and his colleagues at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, now report the isolation of 'pancreas-derived multipotent precursor cells' from mouse and human tissue samples. These cells make insulin and can take on various cellular identities, including that of the β-cell. The authors traced the origin of the mouse precursor cells to the embryonic pancreas.
Transplantation of both mouse and human precursor cells into diabetic mice lowered blood sugar levels and reduced diabetes-associated weight loss.
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The roots of insulin production. Nature 471, 551 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/471551e
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/471551e
