Citation
- Authors: Mandal P. et al.
- Year: 2020
- Journal: Biomedicines 8 485
- Applications: in vitro / miRNA / jetMESSENGER
- Cell type: MEF
Description: Murine embryonic fibroblast cells
Abstract
Diabetes is a concerning health malady worldwide. Islet or pancreas transplantation is
the only long-term treatment available; however, the scarcity of transplantable tissues hampers this
approach. Therefore, new cell sources and differentiation approaches are required. Apart from the
genetic- and small molecule-based approaches, exosomes could induce cellular differentiation by
means of their cargo, including miRNA. We developed a chemical-based protocol to differentiate
mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) intoβ-like cells and employed mouse insulinoma (MIN6)-derived
exosomes in the presence or absence of specific small molecules to encourage their differentiation
into β-like cells. The differentiated β-like cells were functional and expressed pancreatic genes such
as Pdx1, Nkx6.1, and insulin 1 and 2. We found that the exosome plus small molecule combination
differentiated the MEFs most efficiently. Using miRNA-sequencing, we identified miR-127 and
miR-709, and found that individually and in combination, the miRNAs differentiated MEFs into β-like
cells similar to the exosome treatment. We also confirmed that exocrine cells can be differentiated into
β-like cells by exosomes and the exosome-identified miRNAs. A new differentiation approach based
on the use of exosome-identified miRNAs could help people afflicted with diabetes