Balboa, DiegoIworima, Diepiriye G.Kieffer, Timothy J.2021-07-082021-07-082021Balboa D, Iworima DG, Kieffer TJ. Human pluripotent stem cells to model islet defects in diabetes. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021 Mar 22;12:642152. DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2021.6421521664-2392http://hdl.handle.net/10230/48112Diabetes mellitus is characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose and is ultimately caused by insufficient insulin production from pancreatic beta cells. Different research models have been utilized to unravel the molecular mechanisms leading to the onset of diabetes. The generation of pancreatic endocrine cells from human pluripotent stem cells constitutes an approach to study genetic defects leading to impaired beta cell development and function. Here, we review the recent progress in generating and characterizing functional stem cell-derived beta cells. We summarize the diabetes disease modeling possibilities that stem cells offer and the challenges that lie ahead to further improve these models.application/pdfeng© 2021 Balboa, Iworima and Kieffer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these termsDiabetisInsulinaGenèticaPàncreesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2021.642152info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess