Human islets show plasticity | Nature Reviews Endocrinology

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe In a new study published in _Nature_, Pedro Herrera and colleagues report that modified human α-cells and γ-cells can produce insulin, and

when transplanted into a mouse model of diabetes mellitus, modified human α-cells can reverse symptoms of diabetes mellitus. This study provides evidence to suggest that the adaptive

capacity of adult cells is greater than previously thought. In the present study, the team investigated whether human pancreatic cells are able to adapt in the same way mouse pancreatic

cells can. They first sorted pancreatic cells from patients with diabetes mellitus and healthy donors by cell type, and focused on two of the non-insulin-producing cells, α-cells and

γ-cells. “We knew that α-cells in mice upregulate several key β-cell transcription factors, such as PDX1 and MAFA, following β-cell ablation,” adds Herrera. “Therefore, we decided to express

these transcription factors in isolated purified labelled human α-cells and γ-cells.” This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through

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support REFERENCES ORIGINAL ARTICLE * Furuyama, K. et al. Diabetes relief in mice by glucosesensing insulin-secreting human α-cells. _Nature_ https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-0942-8 (2019)

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Reviews Endocrinology http://www.nature.com/nrendo/ Alan Morris

Authors * Alan Morris View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Alan Morris. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints

and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Morris, A. Human islets show plasticity. _Nat Rev Endocrinol_ 15, 255 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0188-4 Download

citation * Published: 04 March 2019 * Issue Date: May 2019 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0188-4 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read

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