The recent demonstration that pancreatic α cells can be continuously regenerated and converted into β-like cells upon ectopic expression of opened new avenues of research in the endocrine cell differentiation and diabetes fields. To determine whether such plasticity was also shared by δ cells, we generated and characterized transgenic animals that express specifically in somatostatin-expressing cells. We demonstrate that the ectopic expression of in δ cells is sufficient to induce their conversion into functional β-like cells. Importantly, this conversion induces compensatory mechanisms involving the reactivation of endocrine developmental processes that result in dramatic β-like cell hyperplasia. Importantly, these β-like cells are functional and can partly reverse the consequences of chemically induced diabetes.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5716283PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201704044DOI Listing

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