Modeling human pancreatic beta cell dedifferentiation

Dedifferentiation could explain reduced functional pancreatic β-cell mass in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here we model human β-cell dedifferentiation using growth factor stimulation in the human β-cell line, EndoC-βH1, and human pancreatic islets. Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) treatment reduced expression of β-cell markers, (INS, MAFB, SLC2A2, SLC30A8, and GCK) and activated ectopic expression of MYC, HES1, SOX9, and NEUROG3. FGF2-induced...