Neural cells may help with insulin

STANFORD, Calif., April 25 (UPI) -- California researchers suggest other cells besides immature pancreatic cells and embryonic stem cells may produce insulin-secreting pancreatic islet cells.

Seung Kim and his colleagues at Stanford University took cells derived from the brain that usually mature into neural cells, and exposed them to a series of signals that are known to drive pancreatic islet development.

They were able to produce clusters of insulin-producing cells that responded to glucose out of the body.

When the cells were then transplanted into immunocompromised mice the cells could also be stimulated by glucose to produce human insulin.

The findings are published in the online health journal PLoS Medicine.