title: Recent progress in studies of factors that elicit pancreatic β-cell expansion.
abstract: The loss of or decreased functional pancreatic β-cell is a major cause of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have shown that adult β-cells can maintain their ability for a low level of turnover through replication and neogenesis. Thus, a strategy to prevent and treat diabetes would be to enhance the ability of β-cells to increase the mass of functional β-cells. Consequently, much effort has been devoted to identify factors that can effectively induce β-cell expansion. This review focuses on recent reports on small molecules and protein factors that have been shown to promote β-cell expansion.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, 250021, China.
authors.forename: Qiu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhi-Chun
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D002450:Cell Communication / Q000235:genetics; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology