Strategies for Pancreatic Differentiation of Pluripotent Stem Cells

The transplantation of insulin-producing cells is a promising option for the treatment of patients suffering from diabetes. Because the amount of transplantable surrogate islets is limited, pluripotent stem cells characterized by self-renewal and differentiation capacity offer unique alternatives for regenerative medicine. Over the last years, embryonic stem (ES) cells isolated from early embryos of mouse and human origin have been used for in vitro differentiation into the endoderm and pancreatic lineages. The application of various differentiation strategies resulted in the formation of insulin-producing cells, but only partially, ES-derived insulin-secreting clusters were able to normalize the blood glucose level of diabetic mice. Recently, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have been established by reprogramming of adult cells via the transfer of pluripotency-associated genes. These iPS cells were also capable to differentiate into insulin-positive cells. Here, we present a short overview about the strategies established for the generation of insulin-producing cells from murine and human pluripotent ES and iPS cells. The data demonstrate the achievements that have been obtained with respect to the production of islet-like cells, but also underline that future efforts are needed to improve their functional status and to translate laboratory data into clinical application.