The Role of MicroRNAs in the Induction of Pancreatic Differentiation

Title:The Role of MicroRNAs in the Induction of Pancreatic Differentiation

Volume: 16 Issue: 2

Author(s): Elham Sabouri, Alireza Rajabzadeh, Seyedeh Elnaz Enderami, Ehsan Saburi, Fatemeh Soleimanifar, Ghasem Barati, Mohamad Rahmati, Gholamreza Khamisipour*Seyed Ehsan Enderami*

Affiliation:

• Department of Hematology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr,Iran

• Diabetes Research Center, Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari,Iran

Keywords: Diabetes, stem cells, pancreatic differentiation, MicroRNAs, insulin-producing cells, islet-like clusters.

Abstract: Stem cell-based therapy is one of the therapeutic options with promising results in the treatment of diabetes. Stem cells from various sources are expanded and induced to generate the cells capable of secreting insulin. These insulin-producing cells [IPCs] could be used as an alternative to islets in the treatment of patients with diabetes. Soluble growth factors, small molecules, geneencoding transcription factors, and microRNAs [miRNAs] are commonly used for the induction of stem cell differentiation. MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs with 21-23 nucleotides that are involved in the regulation of gene expression by targeting multiple mRNA targets. Studies have shown the dynamic expression of miRNAs during pancreatic development and stem cell differentiation. MiR- 7 and miR-375 are the most abundant miRNAs in pancreatic islet cells and play key roles in pancreatic development as well as islet cell functions. Some studies have tried to use these small RNAs for the induction of pancreatic differentiation. This review focuses on the miRNAs used in the induction of stem cells into IPCs and discusses their functions in pancreatic β-cells.

Cite this article as:

Sabouri Elham , Rajabzadeh Alireza , Enderami Elnaz Seyedeh , Saburi Ehsan , Soleimanifar Fatemeh , Barati Ghasem , Rahmati Mohamad , Khamisipour Gholamreza *, Enderami Ehsan Seyed *, The Role of MicroRNAs in the Induction of Pancreatic Differentiation, Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy 2021; 16 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1574888X15666200621173607