The transplantation of islet-like endocrine cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells, such as ES cells and iPS cells, is expected to be a curative treatment for diabetes. Producing the islet-like endocrine cells artificially causes contamination of non-endocrine cells, and keeping the contamination minimal is inevitable when a large amount of cells are produced for cell transplantation. However, because the non-endocrine cells are very rare and form small populations, it has been difficult to characterize them.
Safer mass production of endocrine cells for stem cell-derived therapy for diabetes
The transplantation of islet-like endocrine cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells, such as ES cells and iPS cells, is expected to be a curative treatment for diabetes. Producing the islet-like endocrine cells artificially causes contamination of non-endocrine cells, and keeping the contamination minimal is inevitable when a large amount of cells are produced for cell transplantation. However, because the non-endocrine cells are very rare and form small populations, it has been difficult to characterize them.