Pancreatic differentiation from murine embryonic stem cells

Abstract

Pluripotent stem cells are considered as a cell source for replacement therapies for pancreatic beta cells and other organs. We identified tetrabenazine (TBZ), vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) inhibitor as a promoter of late-stage differentiation of Pdx1-positive pancreatic progenitor cells into Ngn3-positive endocrine progenitor cells. A cell-permeable cAMP analog, dBu-cAMP promotes beta cell maturation in late stage of differentiation. The induced beta cells can secrete insulin in a glucose-dependent manner. Our protocol consists of a three -step differentiation process. ES cell recapitulate embryonic developmental processes in vitro. Therefore, the ES cell differentiation system is a useful model for the understanding of molecular mechanism of beta-cell differentiation and are useful for application for future regenerative medicine