Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the generation and regeneration of β cells is crucial for developing treatments for diabetes. However, traditional research methods, which are based on populations of cells, have limitations for defining the precise processes of β-cell differentiation and trans-differentiation, and the associated regulatory mechanisms. The recent development of single-cell technologies has enabled re-examination of these processes at a single-cell resolution to uncover intermediate cell states, cellular heterogeneity and molecular trajectories of cell fate specification. Here, we review recent advances in understanding β-cell generation and regeneration, in vivo and in vitro, from single-cell technologies, which could provide insights for optimization of diabetes therapy strategies.
Keywords: Cell lineage differentiation; Cellular plasticity; Pancreas; Single-cell RNA-seq; Trans-differentiation; β Cell.
© 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.