Insights into improving the production of beta cells from human embryonic stem cells are detailed by researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Novo Nordisk in a paper published recently in Stem Cell Reports.
"Our research shows that the current method produces cells that resemble alpha cells a little too much. However, the research has given us a better understanding of the steps stem cells go through when they develop into beta cells. In fact, we also show that the cells can develop along different paths, and still end up making the same type of beta cells," says Anne Grapin-Botton, professor at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology, DanStem.
Using known methods, the team analyzed about 600 different cells on their path to beta cell differentiation and individually examined the cells to find out how much they molecularly resemble the beta cells.
In doing so, they came to a better understanding of the ways in which the cells develop and which genes play a role in this development. Notably, it was important that the genes NXK6.1 and MNX1 were activated for the cells to become beta cells in the end.
"This study takes an in-depth look at the molecular mechanisms on the cell level. We are not looking at what the average cells do, as other scientists have previously done, we are looking at all the individual cells. We are doing so in the hope that we can prevent cells from developing in the 'wrong direction'. This work sheds light on the paths which the cells take in their development and how we human beings develop in the womb," Grapin-Botton explains.
"The cells definitely start the process of becoming either alpha or beta cells, but they don't complete it. Here, we need to carry on researching to learn even more about how we can optimize the last step in the development of beta cells," she adds.