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REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Stem Cell Research
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1558137
This article is part of the Research Topic Does Adult Beta Neogenesis Occur? View all 3 articles
The Role of Endothelial Cells in Pancreatic Islet Development, Transplantation and Culture
Provisionally accepted- 1 Key Laboratory of Systems Health Science of Zhejiang Province, School of Life Science, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China
- 2 New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- 3 State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai, China
Endothelial cells (ECs) play pivotal roles in the development and maintenance of tissue homeostasis. During development, vasculature actively involves in organ morphogenesis and functional maturation, through the secretion of angiocrine factors and extracellular matrix components. Islets of Langerhans, essential functional units of glucose homeostasis, are embedded in a dense endothelial capillary network. Islet vasculature not only supplies nutrients and oxygen to endocrine cells but also facilitate the rapid delivery of pancreatic hormones to target tissues, thereby ensuring precise glucose regulation. Diabetes mellitus is a major disease burden and is caused by islet dysfunction or depletion, often accompanied by vessel loss and dysregulation.Therefore, elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of ECs within islets hold profound implications for diabetes therapy. This review provides an overview of recent research advancements on the functional roles of ECs in islet biology, transplantation, and in vitro islet organoid culture.
Keywords: Endothelial cell (EC), Pancreatic islet, Diabetes Mellitus, organoid culture, Islet Transplantation, β cells
Received: 09 Jan 2025; Accepted: 03 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Geng, Yuan, Yu and Zeng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qing Cissy Yu, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Yi Arial Zeng, State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai, China
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