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Clinical Implications of Basic Research
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Volume 359:2723-2724 December 18, 2008 Number 25
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Boosting Beta-Cell Numbers
Harry Heimberg, Ph.D.

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The restoration of functional beta-cell mass by cell therapy is possibly the most realistic current option for curing type 1 diabetes mellitus. The transplantation of human islet cells has been the subject of clinical trials,1 but the procedure is precluded a priori from routine application because of the shortage of donor pancreata, from which cells destined for transplantation are obtained. Consequently, there is an urgent need for alternative sources of beta cells.

A recent study by Zhou and colleagues2 is encouraging. These investigators reported the successful "reprogramming" of acinar cells from the exocrine pancreas of adult mice into insulin-producing beta . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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From the Diabetes Research Center, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Center for Beta Cell Therapy in Diabetes — both in Brussels.



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