Enhanced differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into pancreatic progenitors co-expressing PDX1 and NKX6.1.

We provide a novel technique that facilitates appropriate cellular rearrangement in monolayer culture to yield a high proportion of PDX1+/NKX6.1+ PPs with an elevated self-replicating capacity, thereby aiding scalable production of functional β cells from hPSCs in vitro. Our innovative method also enriches a novel NKX6.1+/PDX1- population, with characteristics of proposed endocrine precursors, allowing further studies on deciphering routes to β-cell development.