Abstract
Shortage of functional pancreatic beta-cells is the basic cause of type 1 and some late-stage type 2 diabetes, making generation of new beta-cells from stem cells a promising strategy for treating diabetes. Intestinal stem cells (ISCs) are adult stem cells found in the base of the crypts of the adult intestine, which is responsible for the continuous life-long renewal of intestinal epithelia cells and thus could also be used a potential source for autologous transplantation. Unlike the most extensively studied bone marrow derived stem cells, ISCs share the advantage of having a common endodermic origin with beta-cells, making their differentiation into beta-cells easier. However, purifying ISCs has been a challenge. Here, we reported a novel method that successfully purifies ISCs from wildtype mice by exploiting their specific binding to a lectin. The only other cell type in the intestine that also binds to this lectin was found to be Paneth cells, which could be excluded through a negative selection for CD24. The purified Lectin+CD24-ISCs, confirmed by gene profiling, were labeled with a fluorescent tag and shown to differentiate into insulin-producing beta-like cells when injected into day 11.5 mouse embryonic pancreatic explants and grown for a week. Further analysis of gene profile alterations and signaling pathways allowed us to develop a time-sensitive protocol with recombinant growth factors to optimize the differentiation of ISCs into beta-like cells in vitro, without the need for an embryonic environment. Our results not only demonstrate a new method for purifying ISCs, but also their potential to differentiate into insulin-producing beta-like cells. This study provides a promising strategy for beta-cell replacement therapy in diabetes. Disclosure Y. Xiao: None. Y. Xiao: None. Y. Jiang: None. Funding University of Pittsburgh; Children?s Hospital of Pittsburgh; Cochrane-Weber Endowed Fund in Diabetes Research
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