Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Into Pancreatic Beta-Cell Precursors in a 2D Culture System
Published on: December 16, 2021
The Effect of Wnt Pathway Modulators on Human iPSC-Derived Pancreatic Beta Cell Maturation
Heidrun Vethe1, Luiza Ghila1, Magnus Berle2,3
1Department of Clinical Science, KG Jebsen Center for Diabetes Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Abstract:
Current published protocols for targeted differentiation of human stem cells toward pancreatic β-cells fail to deliver sufficiently mature cells with functional properties comparable to human islet β-cells. We aimed to assess whether Wnt-modulation could promote the final protocol stages of β-cell maturation, building our hypothesis on our previous findings of Wnt activation in immature hiPSC-derived stage 7 (S7) cells compared to adult human islets and with recent data reporting a link between Wnt/PCP and in vitro β-cell maturation. In this study, we stimulated canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling in hiPSC-derived S7 cells using syntetic proteins including WNT3A, WNT4, WNT5A and WNT5B, and we inhibited endogenous Wnt signaling with the Tankyrase inhibitor G007-LK (TKi). Whereas neither canonical nor non-canonical Wnt stimulation alone was able to mature hiPSC-derived S7 cells, WNT-inhibition with TKi increased the fraction of monohormonal cells and global proteomics of TKi-treated S7 cells showed a proteomic signature more similar to adult human islets, suggesting that inhibition of endogenous Wnt contributes toward final β-cell maturation.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway
Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways
C4 Pathway and CAM
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...
Maturation of Endosomes
Changes in location
The maturing endosome moves along microtubules from the periphery of the cell towards the perinuclear region. This movement of the...
Bacterial Protein Maturation
Lipid-derived Compounds in the Human Body
Fat-soluble Vitamins
Fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E, and K, are required in minimal quantities, but their deficiencies can lead to severely abnormal physiological conditions. For example, vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness, dry skin,...

