Insulin-Secreting Cell Lines: Potential for Research and Diabetes Therapy

The pancreas anatomy in all mammals, in which islets of Langerhans are scattered throughout the parenchyma and comprise only 1–2% of the pancreas mass, makes it technically challenging to retrieve large numbers of pure islets for experimental purposes; this is particularly difficult when small rodents are used for islet isolation. Most studies focus on the majority islet cell type, insulin-secreting β-cells, because these cells are selectively destroyed in type 1 diabetes and are dysfunctional in type 2 diabetes. In the past 40 years, several insulin-secreting cell lines have been developed and characterized as a means of providing a readily available supply of cells for experimental use, which circumvents the time-consuming requirement for islet retrieval from experimental animals. More recently, there has been a concerted effort to differentiate stem cells into insulin-secreting cells, as a strategy of generating β-cell replacements for transplantation therapy for type 1 diabetes. This chapter summarizes the insulin-secreting cell lines that have been generated to date and considers their suitability as appropriate models for primary β-cells.