Trends in the Application of Stem Cells for the Treatment of Diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a global epidemic that showed a dramatic worldwide increase in its incidence and has been associated with life threatening complications if not detected and managed properly. Even though, insulin and oral anti-diabetic drugs were used for its management, lots of efforts are made to improve patient’s care by pancreas and islet transplantation along with stem cell therapies like embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells and adult mesenchymal stem cells. Adult stem cells, which are also termed as somatic stem cells or resident stem cells, are a type of undifferentiated cells, resided in a differentiated tissue, organ or organism, in a specialized structural local microenvironment, called stem cell niche. The stem cell niche, is the in vivo microenvironment where stem cells are located and receive extrinsic signals interact and integrate to influence stem cell behavior that generally determine their fate. ESC showed unlimited differentiation into insulin producing β-cells with ethical concerns. MSCs possess the capacity to differentiate into islet-like insulin producing cells, to promote the regeneration of pancreatic islet beta cells and protect endogenous pancreatic islet beta cells from apoptosis through immunomodulatory mechanisms.