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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Alloimmunity and Transplantation
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1540209
This article is part of the Research Topic Community series in Progress of Allo- and Xeno-transplantation Facilitating the Initial Xeno-Kidney and Islet Clinical Trials, volume III View all articles

Islet Organoids: A New Hope for Islet Transplantation in Diabetes

Provisionally accepted
Xuemei Yu Xuemei Yu 1Si-Yuan Song Si-Yuan Song 2Chengkong Liu Chengkong Liu 1Zheng Kuang Zheng Kuang 1Yi Wang Yi Wang 1*Limin Tian Limin Tian 1*
  • 1 Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
  • 2 Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Diabetes mellitus, including Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and advanced Type 2 diabetes (T2D), remains a major global health challenge due to the destruction or dysfunction of insulin-producing β-cells.Islet transplantation offers a promising therapeutic strategy. However, it is limited by organ shortage globally and other risk factors. Recent advancements in organoid technology provide transformative solutions for islet regeneration. This review summarized three groundbreaking approaches: islet organoids differentiated from Procr+ pancreatic progenitor cells, chemically induced pluripotent stem cells (CiPSCs), and endoderm stem cells (EnSCs). Procr+ cells exhibit multipotency and potential for in vivo activation, offering a scalable and non-invasive strategy for β-cell regeneration. CiPSCs, reprogrammed via small molecules, enable personalized islet therapies with promising clinical outcomes, as demonstrated in T1D patients. EnSC-derived islets (E-islets) offer high differentiation efficiency and therapeutic efficacy, particularly for T2D patients with residual β-cell function. While each approach addresses specific challenges in islet transplantation, further research is needed to optimize scalability, immune compatibility, and longterm functionality. This review highlights the potential of organoid-based technologies to revolutionize diabetes treatment and pave the way for personalized, curative therapies.

    Keywords: islet organoids, Diabetes treatment, Procr+ progenitors, chemically induced pluripotent stem cells (CiPSCs), endoderm stem cells (EnSCs), β-Cell regeneration, personalized therapy, Islet Transplantation

    Received: 05 Dec 2024; Accepted: 26 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yu, Song, Liu, Kuang, Wang and Tian. 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:
    Yi Wang, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
    Limin Tian, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.