Exosomes differentiate mouse embryonic fibroblasts to beta-like cells

Diabetes is a concerning health malady worldwide. Islet or pancreas transplantation is the only long-term treatment available; however, the scarcity of transplantable tissues hampers this approach. Therefore, new cell sources and differentiation approaches are required. Apart from the genetic- and small molecule-based approaches, exosomes could induce cellular differentiation by means of their cargo, including miRNA. We developed a chemical-based protocol to differentiate mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) into β-like cells and employed mouse insulinoma (MIN6)-derived exosomes in the presence or absence of specific small molecules to encourage their differentiation into β-like cells. We further performed miRNA sequencing to identify the miRNAs present in the exosomes that could mediate the differentiation process. The miRNA sequencing study found some of the miRNAs to be highly upregulated in the exosomes, some in the parent MIN6 cells, and some other were present in almost equal representation. Some of the miRNAs were investigated for their role in mediating the differentiation process to β-like cells . These miRNAs were able to differentiate the exocrine cells too. Examination of MIN6-derived exosomes compared to MIN6 cells in terms of their miRNA repertoire by using miRNA-sequencing in duplicate samples.