Pancreatic beta cells regeneration.

Insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells are important for the regulation of glucose metabolism in vivo. Loss of beta cells could lead to diabetes. So far, islet transplantation is an effective way for diabetes therapy, but the shortage of donors limits its extensive application. Therefore, study on beta cell regeneration has great significance for the clinical treatment of diabetes. The major cellular sources of beta cells mainly include endogenous beta cell proliferation, pluripotent stem cell differentiation, and trans-differentiation from other non-beta cells. The existence of endogenous pancreatic stem cells or progenitors in adults remains controversial in the field. In this review, we briefly summarize the research advances of beta cell regeneration and discuss the potential problems of these approaches, to improve our understanding on the mechanisms of beta cell regeneration and provide theoretical information for clinical application.胰岛beta细胞分泌胰岛素调控体内血糖水平,胰岛beta细胞数量减少会导致糖尿病的发生。胰岛移植是目前治疗糖尿病的有效方法,但是目前仍然面临供体短缺等巨大障碍,因此研究胰岛beta细胞再生对于糖尿病的临床治疗具有深远意义。beta细胞的再生来源主要包括内源性beta细胞增殖、多能干细胞分化和其他非beta细胞的转分化。成体是否存在内源性胰腺干细胞依然是领域内亟待解决的重要科学问题之一。本文总结了与胰岛beta细胞再生相关的研究发现与进展,并讨论了内源性胰岛beta细胞增殖、诱导多能干细胞分化、非胰岛beta细胞重编程等方法在糖尿病治疗中需要注意的问题和潜在应用前景。.