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STEM CELLS

Improving human β-cell maturation in vitro

Patients with diabetes could benefit from cell-based insulin therapy, but the supply of human islet tissue is limited. A study now reports an approach in which human-pluripotent-stem-cell-derived islet β-cells are purified and re-aggregated to generate cells that more closely resemble mature human β-cells.

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Fig. 1: An improved protocol for human stem cell to β-cell differentiation in vitro.

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Correspondence to Christopher B. Newgard.

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Hohmeier, H.E., An, J. & Newgard, C.B. Improving human β-cell maturation in vitro. Nat Cell Biol 21, 119–121 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-019-0277-6

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