Continuous Inhibition of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling Leads to Differentiation of Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells into Functional Insulin-Producing β Cells

Figure 5

Functional abilities of differentiated IPCs. (a) Insulin detected in culture media of all groups on day 5 of differentiation step 3. Insulin levels are higher in group 4 incubated with SANT-1 than in other groups (). (b) Insulin secretion is significantly increased in all groups on day 8 of step 3, especially in groups 4 and 6, where values exceeded the measurement range (). (c) In general, insulin concentrations in culture medium without forskolin are low, except in groups 4 and 6 (). (d) The insulin expression is not significantly affected by glucose concentration in cells incubated with only the basic differentiation factor at differentiation step 2. (e) Insulin secretion is increased in response to 20 and 30 mM glucose in group 4, which was incubated with SANT-1. (f) differentiated cells in group 4 respond to high glucose concentrations by increasing insulin secretion, like group 6.

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