Stem cell-based strategies for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Importance of the field: β-Cell regeneration and β-cell preservation are two promising therapeutic approaches for the management of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Stem cell-based strategies to address the problems of shortage in β cells, autoimmune and alloimmune responses have become an area of intense study.

Areas covered in this review: This review focuses on the progress that has been made in obtaining functional, insulin-producing cells from various types of stem/progenitor cells, including the current knowledge on the immunomodulatory roles of hematopoietic stem cell and multipotent stromal cell in the therapies for T1D.

What the reader will gain: A broad overview of recent advancements in this field is provided. The hurdles that remain in the path of using stem cell-based strategies for the treatment of T1D and possible approaches to overcome these challenges are discussed.

Take home message: Stem cell-based strategies hold great promise for the treatment of T1D. In spite of the progress that has been made over the last decade, a number of obstacles and concerns need to be cleared before widespread clinical application is possible. In particular, the mechanism of ESC and iPSC-derived β-cell maturation in vivo is poorly understood.

Keywords::

• regenerative medicine
• stem cells therapy
• transplantation
• type 1 diabetes

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Y Huang and E Yolcu for reading the manuscript and C DeLautre for manuscript preparation. We apologize to those colleagues whose work we could not cite here because of space limitation.

Notes

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