Immunofluorescence microscopy image of human fetal pancreatic tissue showing insulin-positive cells in green surrounded by supporting cells. Alejo Torres-Cano et al., Spatially organized cellular communities shape functional tissue architecture in the pancreas. Sci. Adv. 11,eadx5791(2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adx5791
Researchers at King’s College London have mapped how pancreatic cells organise themselves during development in mice using single-cell and spatial transcriptomics. By creating detailed cellular maps from embryo to adult, they revealed how different pancreatic cell types assemble into structured communities, or “niches,” that support organ function.
They identified two main niches: an exocrine niche for digestion and an endocrine niche containing insulin-producing beta cells. Within the endocrine niche, a specialised supporting cell type maintains a stable environment for beta cells throughout life, a finding confirmed in both mouse and human tissue.
Using human stem cells, the team showed that recreating the endocrine niche in the lab greatly improves the production of functional beta cells. These insights will help scientists build more accurate models of the pancreas, advancing diabetes research and supporting the development of improved stem cell-based therapies.
My group studies how pancreas cells, in particular pancreatic beta cells, are formed. With the explosion of spatial transcriptomics in recent years, we jumped at the opportunity to use these techniques to map the individual cell types in the pancreas and to learn how they develop and interact over space and time.
Professor Francesca Spagnoli, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at King’s College London and corresponding author of the paper.
Credit: Kings College London.