In vitro differentiation of human skin-derived precursors cells into insulin producing cells by glucose and rat pancreatic extract

Cell-therapy provides a promising alternative for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. One of the most proper candidates is multipotent skin-derived precursors cells (SKPs)، which can be differentiated into insulin producing cells (IPCs). In this study، human skin-derived precursors (hSKPs) were isolated، expanded and differentiated into IPCs in vitro، through exposure to rat pancreatic extract (2 days after a 60% pancreatectomy). In order to differentiation، SKPs were Cultured in DMEM، containing FBS، pancreatic extract and glucose for 14 days. In order to verify insulin production in the cells، dithizone-staining، which is a method for insulin identification، was employed. In addition، insulin expression was examined immunocytochemically، and insulin secretion was examined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cellular clusters appeared after approximately 14 days. The clusters were found to be immunoreactive to insulin. Cellular clusters were also able to secrete detectable amounts of insulin in glucose concentration dependent manner. The results of the current study showed that pancreatic extract treatment can differentiate human SKPs into functional IPCs. This may offer a safer cell source for future stem cell-based therapies.