胰腺中产胰岛素的β-细胞寿命很长,在健康条件下β-细胞几乎终生不复制。然而在代谢增强以及β-细胞受到损伤时它可以表现自我复制。在β-细胞几乎完全被去除的转基因小鼠模型的研究中发现,α-细胞可以自发变成β-细胞,这一发现让试验者看到了糖尿病可能的治疗新方法:通过差异化环境在体外生成β-细胞,或在体内诱导β-细胞再生。 Pancreas insulin-producing beta-cells have a long lifespan, and under healthy conditions beta-cells do not replicate for almost lifetime. However, it can manifest self-replication as the metabolism increases and the beta-cells are damaged. In a study of transgenic mouse models in which β-cells were almost completely removed, it was found that α-cells spontaneously become β-cells, a finding that has given experimenters new ways of treating possible diabetes: by differentiating the environment in vitro Produce beta-cells, or induce beta-cell regeneration in vivo.