Abstract
Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been shown to occur during generation of human islet-derived progenitor cells (hIPCs), which have been demonstrated to retain potential to differentiate into insulin-producing cells. EMT is a biological process where epithelial cells go through a phenotypic change to become more mesenchymal-like. EMT is reported to form the basis of three distinct physiological and pathological processes: embryo formation/implantation, tissue repair and carcinoma/metastasis. We demonstrated that human islets undergo EMT when exposed to growth-promoting conditions in vitro. Here, we provide an overview of EMT, generation of hIPCs and other stem cells with this phenomenon, the debate surrounding the origin of lineage-committed progenitor cells and finally the role of microRNAs in regulating EMT in hIPCs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Pancreatic Islet Biology |
| Editors | Anandwardhan A. Hardikar |
| Place of Publication | Switzerland |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Pages | 217-240 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9783319453071 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9783319453057 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |