Insulin-producing beta cells from stem cells
Thursday, January 23, 2014 - 12:22
in Biology & Nature
The Wnt/²-catenin signaling pathway and microRNA 335 are instrumental in helping form differentiated progenitor cells from stem cells. These are organized in germ layers and are thus the origin of different tissue types, including the pancreas and its insulin-producing beta cells. With these findings, scientists have discovered key molecular functions of stem cell differentiation which could be used for beta cell replacement therapy in diabetes.