Open AccessPancreatic β-cell heterogeneity in health and diabetes: classes, sources, and subtypes
Author(s) -
Mario A Miranda,
Juan F Macias-Velasco,
Heather A. Lawson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
endocrinology and metabolism/american journal of physiology: endocrinology and metabolism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.507
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1522-1555
pISSN - 0193-1849
DOI - 10.1152/ajpendo.00649.2020
Subject(s) - biology , disease , cell , cell type , diabetes mellitus , niche , islet , identification (biology) , computational biology , genetic heterogeneity , type 2 diabetes , bioinformatics , neuroscience , genetics , medicine , endocrinology , phenotype , gene , ecology
Pancreatic β-cells perform glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, a process at the center of type 2 diabetes etiology. Efforts to understand how β-cells behave in healthy and stressful conditions have revealed a wide degree of morphological, functional, and transcriptional heterogeneity. Sources of heterogeneity include β-cell topography, developmental origin, maturation state, and stress response. Advances in sequencing and imaging technologies have led to the identification of β-cell subtypes, which play distinct roles in the islet niche. This review examines β-cell heterogeneity from morphological, functional, and transcriptional perspectives, and considers the relevance of topography, maturation, development, and stress response. It also discusses how these factors have been used to identify β-cell subtypes, and how heterogeneity is impacted by diabetes. We examine open questions in the field and discuss recent technological innovations that could advance understanding of β-cell heterogeneity in health and disease.