Extracellular signals and pancreatic β-cell development: A brief review

Abstract

Cell lineage development is a finely tuned process of proliferation and differentiation, survival and apoptosis, that is regulated by numerous extracellular signals. Here we review some of the extracellular signals - including insoluble cell-cell and extracellular matrix-cell interactions, as well as soluble factors - that appear critical for pancreatic β-cell development. Knowledge of how these signals control the development of pancreatic endocrine stem/precursor cells into fully functional insulin-secreting β cells is a platform for the restoration of β-cell function and the cure therapy of type 1 diabetes.