Pancreatic β-cells do not appear to require interactions with neighbouring non-β-cells (α-cells, δ-cells and γ-cells) to regulate insulin secretion. These results are clinically relevant and support the development of treatments for diabetes that involve the generation of β-like cells alone, whether from pluripotent cells or by in situ conversion of non-β-cells.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Bru-Tari, E., Oropeza, D. & Herrera, P. L. Cell heterogeneity and paracrine interactions in human islet function: a perspective focused in β-cell regeneration strategies. Front. Endocrinol. 11, 619150 (2020). This paper discusses the relevance of paracrine interactions within pancreatic islets.
Thorel, F. et al. Conversion of adult pancreatic α-cells to β-cells after extreme β-cell loss. Nature 464, 1149–1154 (2010). This paper shows that adult pancreatic α-cells can convert to insulin-producing cells after extreme β-cell loss.
Chera, S. et al. Diabetes recovery by age-dependent conversion of pancreatic δ-cells into insulin producers. Nature 514, 503–507 (2014). This paper demonstrates that adult pancreatic δ-cells engage insulin expression upon insulin deficiency.
Perez-Frances, M. et al. Pancreatic Ppy-expressing γ-cells display mixed phenotypic traits and the adaptive plasticity to engage insulin production. Nat. Commun. 12, 4458 (2021). This paper shows that adult pancreatic γ-cells engage insulin production in the absence of β-cells.
Furuyama, K. et al. Diabetes relief in mice by glucose-sensing insulin-secreting human α-cells. Nature 567, 43–48 (2019). This paper shows that human α-cells induce insulin production and glucose-mediated insulin secretion in absence of β-cells.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Perez-Frances, M. et al. Regulated and adaptive in vivo insulin secretion from islets only containing β-cells. Nat. Metab. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01114-8 (2024).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Regulated insulin secretion from human and mouse islets exclusively composed of β-cells. Nat Metab 6, 1659–1660 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01117-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01117-5