Diabetes is an ever increasing medical burden worldwide. In diabetes Type 1 insulin-producing cells are destroyed. We aim to replenish these insulin-producing cells with stem cell-derived alternatives. In order to achieve this we also study how the formation of these insulin-producing cells occurs in the human body with an organoid model. By looking at different pancreatic cell types to understand where the insulin-producing cells come from.
Impact
If we can better understand how insulin-producing cells are formed we might be able to mimic this process with our stem cells. By combining adult tissue-derived organoid data with stem cell differentiation, we are able to improve the process of generating lab grown insulin-producing cells for cellular replacement therapy. By studying the different types of ductal cells, we aim to find the crucial cell types that lead to the formation of pancreatic islet cells.
reNEW research
By using an organoid model we were able to observe different populations of ductal cells, showing that there might be more mechanisms involved in the differentiation than originally thought. We hope to elucidate these mechanisms to improve our stem cell differentiation.
Image description
Pancreatic duct organoid, showing heterogeneity in expression while it was thought all cells are the same.
Credits
Juri Juksar, Maarten van Agen, Department of Internal Medicine, Islet lab, LUMC.
