- Du, Wen;
- Wang, Junqiang;
- Kuo, Taiyi;
- Wang, Liheng;
- McKimpson, Wendy M;
- Son, Jinsook;
- Watanabe, Hitoshi;
- Kitamoto, Takumi;
- Lee, Yun-Kyoung;
- Creusot, Remi J;
- Ratner, Lloyd E;
- McCune, Kasi;
- Chen, Ya-Wen;
- Grubbs, Brendan H;
- Thornton, Matthew E;
- Fan, Jason;
- Sultana, Nishat;
- Diaz, Bryan S;
- Balasubramanian, Iyshwarya;
- Gao, Nan;
- Belvedere, Sandro;
- Accili, Domenico
As a highly regenerative organ, the intestine is a promising source for cellular reprogramming for replacing lost pancreatic β cells in diabetes. Gut enterochromaffin cells can be converted to insulin-producing cells by forkhead box O1 (FoxO1) ablation, but their numbers are limited. In this study, we report that insulin-immunoreactive cells with Paneth/goblet cell features are present in human fetal intestine. Accordingly, lineage-tracing experiments show that, upon genetic or pharmacologic FoxO1 ablation, the Paneth/goblet lineage can also undergo conversion to the insulin lineage. We designed a screening platform in gut organoids to accurately quantitate β-like cell reprogramming and fine-tune a combination treatment to increase the efficiency of the conversion process in mice and human adult intestinal organoids. We identified a triple blockade of FOXO1, Notch, and TGF-β that, when tested in insulin-deficient streptozotocin (STZ) or NOD diabetic animals, resulted in near normalization of glucose levels, associated with the generation of intestinal insulin-producing cells. The findings illustrate a therapeutic approach for replacing insulin treatment in diabetes.