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In vitro (re)programming of human bone marrow stromal cells toward insulin‐producing phenotypes
Author(s) -
Limbert Catarina,
Seufert Jochen
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
pediatric diabetes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.678
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1399-5448
pISSN - 1399-543X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-5448.2009.00502.x
Subject(s) - diabetology , medicine , pediatric endocrinology , library science , pediatrics , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus , computer science
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with great social and economical impact. In all its forms, it affects nearly 200 million people worldwide (1). Type 1 diabetes (T1D) represents 10% of all cases. Because of the increase in obesity in developed countries, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been rising very rapidly, affecting children and adolescents. T1D and advanced T2D are caused by a progressive loss of functional pancreatic β-cell mass within the pancreatic islets. The extraordinary results of the Edmonton protocol have shown that human pancreatic islet transplantation can normalize glycemic control of insulin-dependent diabetic patients (2). Nevertheless, this therapeutic option does not represent a significant clinical benefit for all diabetic patients; the demand of islets for transplantation is very high and human donor pancreas for isolation of islet grafts is limited. Furthermore, transplants do last no longer than 2 yr and are accompanied by significant side effects as a consequence of lifelong aggressive immunosuppression (3). Therefore, intensive search for new sources for β-cell replacement has been undertaken. Regeneration of existing mature β-cells and replacement of insulin-producing cells are current research lines that could possibly solve the problem of islet shortage. Differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells has been thoroughly investigated; however, results are not yet satisfactory (4–6). Adult stem/progenitor