title: Human pluripotent stem cell based islet models for diabetes research.
abstract: Although similar, mouse and human pancreatic development and beta cell physiology have significant differences. For this reason, mouse models present shortcomings that can obscure the understanding of human diabetes pathology. Progress in the field of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) differentiation now makes it possible to derive unlimited numbers of human beta cells in vitro. This constitutes an invaluable approach to gain insight into human beta cell development and physiology and to generate improved disease models. Here we summarize the main differences in terms of development and physiology of the pancreatic endocrine cells between mouse and human, and describe the recent progress in modeling diabetes using hPSC. We highlight the need of developing more physiological hPSC-derived beta cell models and anticipate the future prospects of these approaches.
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Research Programs Unit, Molecular Neurology and Biomedicum Stem Cell Center, Finland.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Balboa
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Research Programs Unit, Molecular Neurology and Biomedicum Stem Cell Center, Finland; Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland. Electronic address: timo.otonkoski@helsinki.fi.
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otonkoski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D000072669:Gene Editing / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation
keywords: beta cell physiology; diabetes models; disease modeling; genome editing; human pluripotent stem cells; induced pluripotent stem cells; pancreas development