Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

DIABETES

Pancreatic mesenchymal stem cells might protect β-cells

A recent article from Science Translational Medicine demonstrated the importance of pancreas-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PMSCs) for rejuvenating the exocrine pancreas in two mouse models of type 1 diabetes mellitus. PMSCs boosted levels of IL-6 in T helper 1 and T helper 17 cells, which transiently triggered IFNγ and TNF expression and curtailed IL-17 expression to shelter β-cells from immune-mediated damage.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: PMSCs and protection from type 1 diabetes mellitus — possible mechanisms and open questions.

References

  1. Kou, X. et al. Exocrine pancreas regeneration modifies original pancreas to alleviate diabetes in mouse models. Sci. Transl Med. 14, eabg9170 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Cho, J., D’Antuono, M., Glicksman, M., Wang, J. & Jonklaas, J. A review of clinical trials: mesenchymal stem cell transplant therapy in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Am. J. Stem. Cells 7, 82–93 (2018).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Shapiro, A. M., Pokrywczynska, M. & Ricordi, C. Clinical pancreatic islet transplantation. Nat. Rev. Endocrinol. 13, 268–277 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Khatri, R., Petry, S. F. & Linn, T. Intrapancreatic MSC transplantation facilitates pancreatic islet regeneration. Stem Cell Res. Ther. 12, 121 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Suk, K. et al. IFN-gamma/TNF-alpha synergism as the final effector in autoimmune diabetes: a key role for STAT1/IFN regulatory factor-1 pathway in pancreatic beta cell death. J. Immunol. 166, 4481–4489 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Hunter, C. A. & Jones, S. A. IL-6 as a keystone cytokine in health and disease. Nat. Immunol. 16, 448–457 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Rajendran, S. et al. IL-6 is present in beta and alpha cells in human pancreatic islets: Expression is reduced in subjects with type 1 diabetes. Clin. Immunol. 211, 108320 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Linn.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Khatri, R., Linn, T. Pancreatic mesenchymal stem cells might protect β-cells. Nat Rev Endocrinol 18, 725–726 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-022-00763-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-022-00763-7

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing