An amplifying method of pancreatic cells is provided. The amplifying method includes performing digestion, resuspension, discontinuous density gradient centrifugation treatment and amplifying treatment sequentially. The mammalian pancreatic duct is used as the source of pancreatic precursor-like cells in the amplifying method, and islet cells and acinar cells in the cell clusters obtained by the discontinuous density gradient centrifugation treatment are removed. It is beneficial to improve the yield of the pancreatic precursor-like cells availably, and avoid the ethical restrictions and possible carcinogenic risks caused by using the embryonic stem cells. The amplifying medium used comprises a reprogramming substance composed of several small molecule compounds. It can avoid the risks of non-specific and off-target deletion that are easily caused by the use of the gene-editing methods to change the gene sequence. Also provided is a differentiation method and an application of the pancreatic precursor-like cells obtained by the amplifying method.

The present invention provides methods to promote the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells and the products related to or resulting from such methods. In particular, the present invention provides an improved method for the formation of pancreatic hormone expressing cells and pancreatic hormone secreting cells. In addition, the present invention also provides methods to promote the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells without the use of a feeder cell layer and the products related to or resulting from such methods. The present invention also provides methods to promote glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in insulin-producing cells derived from pluripotent stem cells.

The present disclosure provides cell-based compositions for treating diabetes, methods for identifying cells that preferentially differentiate into endoderm cells, and methods for preparing insulin-producing pancreatic cells, as well as related methods of use for treating diseases related to insulin deficiency.

The present disclosure provides cell-based compositions for treating diabetes, methods for identifying cells that preferentially differentiate into endoderm cells, and methods for preparing insulin-producing pancreatic cells, as well as related methods of use for treating diseases related to insulin deficiency.

An interference image acquisition apparatus includes a light source, a beam splitter, a second reflection mirror, an imager, and a first reflection mirror. A cell is placed on one side of a transparent material, and the first reflection mirror is placed on the other side of the transparent material. In a two-beam interferometer, an optical path difference between an optical path length of a first light beam reflected by the first reflection mirror and an optical path length of a second light beam reflected by the second reflection mirror is set to a coherence length of light output from the light source or less. The imager acquires an interference image in a state in which the cell is placed at a position conjugate to an imaging plane in a first optical system between the imaging plane and the first reflection mirror.

The invention relates to devices, compositions, and treatment of infertility inter alia by generating not only functional ovarian tissue but also functional oocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells. Treatments for hormone replacement are also described. In one aspect, the invention features a container including (i) a substrate; (ii) human iPSCs capable of differentiating into functional ovarian tissue; and (ii) a culture media.

The invention provides for methods of differentiating pancreatic endocrine cells into pancreatic beta cells expressing PDX1, NKX6.1, MAFA, UCN3 and SLC2A. These pancreatic beta cells may be obtained by step-wise differentiation of pluripotent stem cells. The pancreatic beta cells exhibit glucose-dependent mitochondrial respiration and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion similar to islet cells.

A population of enteroendocrine cells (EEC) is obtained from a mammalian post-natal cell population, such as a population including post-natal stem cells, by treating the population with a plurality of small molecules that upregulate ChgA and promote differentiation of the cells to form the enteroendocrine cells. The upregulation of ChgA is such that the fraction of cells expressing CGA in the obtained cell population, as measured by a ChgA Immunostaining Assay, is at least about 1.5%. Small molecules that can be used to differentiate the post-natal cells into the enteroendocrine cells can include at least one of a Wnt activator, a Notch inhibitor, a Wnt inhibitor, a MEK/ERK inhibitor, a growth factor, a HDAC inhibitor, a Histone Methylation Inhibitor, a Tgf-β inhibitor, and a NeuroD1 activator. Also, the insulin expression of a population of mammalian cells is increased by treating the population with a plurality of small molecules that increase the insulin expression.

The present invention relates to methods of generating a population of beta cells from a population of alpha cells, by contacting said population of alpha cells with GABA or a GABA receptor agonist, in combination with a monoclonal glucagon neutralizing antibody or other alpha cell mass regulating compounds, for an improved diabetes therapy.

In some embodiments, methods for improving the survival of pancreatic β-cell progenitors in culture are provided. Such methods may include contacting a population of pancreatic progenitor cells with an amino acid (aa) sequence comprising IKVAV (SEQ ID NO:1). In other embodiments, methods for (i) verifying the establishment of a population of pancreatic progenitor or stem cells and (ii) methods for generating or establishing a population of pancreatic endocrine progenitor cells in vitro are provided.