Table 1.

Comparison between pancreatic progenitors and beta cells derived from human pluripotent stem cell (hPSCs).

Feature	Pancreatic Progenitors	Pancreatic Beta Cells
Key transcription factors	PDX1, NKX6.1, and FOXA2 [7]	NKX6.1, MAFA, and PDX1 [7]
Surface markers	CD24 [32], CD142 [33], GP2 [22,34]	CD49a [35]
Duration of in vitro differentiation protocol	~2 weeks [15,21]	~30–36 days [17,18,19,36]
Method of differentiation	Monolayer [15,21] and aggregation in suspension [24,25]	Aggregation in suspension [17,18,19]
Display of human c-peptide secretion following transplantation in vivo (rodents)	~3–4.5 months [9,22]	~3–14 days [17,18,19]
After transplantation	Islet-like structure (INS+, GCG+, and SST+ cells)	INS+ cells
Clinical trials	Yes	No
HLA expression	Low [37]	High [37]
Off-target differentiation	Acinar and ductal cells could be co-generated [15,33]	Polyhormonal and other endocrine cells [8,17,19]
Generation of functionally relevant heterogenous beta cell subpopulations	undetermined	undetermined
Expansion and freeze-thaw potential for storage	Yes [38,39]	undetermined