Peer reviewed article Stem cells with potential to generate insulin-producing cells in man

Replacement of insulin-producing cells repre-sents an almost ideal treatment for patients with diabetes mellitus type 1. Transplantation of pan-creatic islets of Langerhans – although successful in experienced centres – is limited by the lack of donor organs. Generation of insulin-producing cells from stem cells represents an attractive alter-native. Stem cells with the potential to differenti-ate into insulin-producing cells include embryonic stem cells (ESC) as well as adult stem cells from various tissues including the pancreas, liver, cen-tral nervous system, bone marrow and adipose tis-sue. The use of human ESC is hampered by ethi-cal concerns and the inability to create patient spe-cific ESC with therapeutic cloning. Among adul