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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Normothermic Ex Vivo Pancreas Perfusion for the Preservation of Pancreas Allografts before Transplantation
Published on: July 27, 2022
Liver to Pancreas Transdifferentiation
Irit Meivar-Levy1,2, Sarah Ferber3,4,5
1The Sheba Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Center, Sheba Medical Center, 56261, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
Generating insulin-producing cells from liver cells via transdifferentiation (TD) shows promise for diabetes treatment. Enhancing TD efficiency and cell maturation are key for clinical application in autologous cell replacement therapy.
Area of Science:
- Cell biology
- Regenerative medicine
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Transdifferentiation (TD) directly converts one cell type to another without pluripotency.
- Liver-to-pancreas TD aims to generate insulin-producing cells for diabetes therapy.
Purpose of the Study:
- Review recent findings in pancreatic transcription factor (pTF)-induced liver transdifferentiation (TD).
- Identify limitations in TD efficiency and propose solutions for clinical implementation.
- Advance autologous cell replacement therapy for insulin-dependent diabetes.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on liver-to-pancreas transdifferentiation.
- Analysis of factors influencing TD efficiency and cell maturation.
- Discussion of epigenetic modifications and niche restoration.
Main Results:
- Liver-to-pancreas TD efficiency is influenced by cell predisposition, liver zonation, and hepatic regeneration.
- Epigenetic modifications and soluble factors can enhance TD propensity.
- Wnt signaling plays a crucial role in maintaining a permissive epigenome.
- Pancreatic niche and vasculature restoration are vital for β cell maturation.
Conclusions:
- Liver-to-pancreas TD holds potential for generating patient-specific surrogate β cells.
- Overcoming TD efficiency limitations requires epigenetic modulation and niche engineering.
- Future research should focus on 3D culture, vasculature, and niche restoration for improved cell maturation.
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