Cell therapy in diabetes: current progress and future prospects

Diabetes mellitus, characterized by the impaired metabolism of insulin secretion in β cells, is becoming one of the most prevalent diseases around the world. Recently, cell replacement based on differentiation of various pluripotent stem cells, including embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells and multipotent stem cells, such as bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells and gnotobiotic porcine skin-derived stem cells, is becoming a promising therapeutic strategy. Cells derived from pancreatic tissues or other tissues that are relevant to β cell differentiation have also been used as cell source. However, in spite of hopeful experimental results, cell therapy in diabetes still confronts certain obstacles, such as purity of cells, functional differentiation of stem cells and possible tumorigenesis, which, in turn, lead to the seeking of new-generation tools, such as xenogenetic materials. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge and future prospects of cell therapy in diabetes mellitus.