Table 1.
Small molecules and pancreatic β-cell regeneration
| Chemical | Target | Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indolactam V |
Pancreas progenitor |
Human/mouse definitive endoderm |
[62] |
PKC activator. |
 | ||||
| Induce definitive endoderm (IDE 1 (above) and IDE 2 (below) |
Endoderm |
Mouse ESCs |
[63] |
TGF-β activator. Enables induction of pancreatic progenitors from mESCs with Indolactam V |
  | ||||
| Retinoic acid (RA) |
Pancreatic cells, β-cells |
Definitive endoderm |
[64,65] |
|
 | ||||
| Swertisin |
Islet-like cell clusters |
Mouse NIH3T3 cells |
[66] |
|
 | ||||
| WS6 |
- |
β-cells |
[67] |
IκB kinase pathway activator (Promotes proliferation of β cells) |
 | ||||
| BRD7552 |
- |
Human islets and ductal cells |
[68] |
PDX1 expression. |
 | ||||
| 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (5-AZA) |
Pancreatic endocrine cells |
PANC-1 human ductal cell line |
[69] |
DNA methylation inhibitor. |
 |
Abbreviations, PKC protein kinase C, ESCs embryonic stem cells, TGF-β transforming growth factor β.