ITS

The Institute of Translational Stem Cell Research (ITS) aims to develop a new advanced cell therapy to carry out clinical studies in type 1 diabetes patients.

3D illustration of a pancreatic organoid

Research Concept

Basic science forms the foundations of most, if not all medical breakthroughs. To appreciate what goes awry in disease, we must fully understand how cells function in periods of homeostasis. In many epithelial organs, including the pancreas, tissue morphogenesis is inextricably tied to cell fate decisions. In our lab, we aim to understand the connection between epithelial architecture and the commitment of pancreatic progenitor cells to mature endocrine cells. We believe that to understand this process in a physiologically relevant manner, we must integrate findings from mouse and human pancreatic epithelia. Discoveries from our research are incredibly important for improving differentiation protocols that aim to provide functional, glucose-responsive beta cells for use in diabetes cellular therapies.

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A research team led by Prof. Henrik Semb, Director of the Institute of Translational Stem Cell Research at Helmholtz Munich, has gained new insights into how immature pancreatic cells decide whether to become insulin-producing beta cells or…

Our organs do a remarkable job day in and day out, without ourselves even having to think about it. Our body has its own ventilation system, a clearance system for toxins, and a system to balance energy homeostasis. But what if one of these systems…

The EU-funded ISLET project brings together leading experts in the field of stem cell research to discover a new advanced cell therapy in type 1 diabetes. The aim is to free patients from the daily use of an insulin pump by replacing the damaged…

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In order to treat patients with diabetes in the best possible way it is necessary to understand the disease mechanism. MODY type 3 (MODY3) is a monogenic hereditary form of diabetes, that is caused by a genetic defect in the HNF1A gene. The result is…

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Prof. Dr. Tor Henrik Semb

Director, Institute of Translational Stem Cell Research, ITS

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Dr. Minodora Brimpari

Scientific Project Manager

Dr. Chenglei Tian

Postdoc

Dr. Ivan Kulik

Postdoc

Carla Méndez Muñoz

TA-BTA, ITS

Maria Scamozzi

TA-BTA, ITS

Heng, D. ; Jin, K. ; Yin, G. ; Tian, C. ; Sheng, X. ; Lu, J. ; Wu, Y. ; Ye, X. ; Shi, P. ; Li, H. ; Liu, C. ; Liu, L. ; Zhu, Z.

Reprogramming senescent granulosa cells for germ-cell generation.

Tian, C. ; Di, Y. ; Muhammad, A. ; Semb, H.

CD133/CD49a discriminate between human pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic beta and alpha cells.

Jackson, A.L. ; Heilmann, S. ; Agerskov, R. ; Ebeid, C. ; Krivokapic, J.M. ; Romero Herrera, J.A. ; Semb, H. ; Nyeng, P.

Real-time imaging reveals new mechanisms for pancreatic ductal establishment and remodeling.

Singh, T. ; Kalamajski, S. ; Cunha, J.P.M.C.M. ; Hladkou, S. ; Roberts, F. ; Gheibi, S. ; Soltanian, A. ; Yektay Farahmand, K. ; Ekström, O. ; Mamidi, A. ; Franks, P.W. ; Rosengren, A. ; Semb, H. ; Mulder, H. ; Fex, M.

Modeling genetic risk of β-cell dysfunction in human induced pluripotent stem cells from patients carrying the MTNR1B risk variant.

Ebeid, C. ; Rump, A. ; Tian, C. ; Mamidi, A. ; de Arcangelis, A. ; Gradwohl, G. ; Semb, H.

Extracellular matrix-driven metabolic control of pancreatic endocrine lineage allocation.

Tian, C. ; Tiemann, U. ; Hermann, F. ; Semb, H.

Protocol for in vitro modeling of specification and morphogenesis of early pancreas development using human pluripotent stem cell-based organoid differentiation.

Chubanava, S. ; Karavaeva, I. ; Ehrlich, A.M. ; Justicia, R.M. ; Basse, A.L. ; Kulik, I. ; Dalbram, E. ; Ahwazi, D. ; Heaselgrave, S.R. ; Trošt, K. ; Stocks, B. ; Hodek, O. ; Rodrigues, R.N. ; Havelund, J.F. ; Schlabs, F.L. ; Larsen, S. ; Yonamine, C.Y. ; Henriquez-Olguin, C. ; Giustarini, D. ; Rossi, R. ; Gerhart-Hines, Z. ; Moritz, T. ; Zierath, J.R. ; Sakamoto, K. ; Jensen, T.E. ; Færgeman, N.J. ; Lavery, G.G. ; Deshmukh, A.S. ; Treebak, J.T.

NAD depletion in skeletal muscle does not compromise muscle function or accelerate aging.

Tiemann, U. ; Tian, C. ; Hermann, F. ; Proks, M. ; Skovgaard, E. ; Kulik, I. ; Di, Y. ; Sedzinski, J. ; Semb, H.

Pancreatic alpha and beta cell fate choice is directed by apical-basal polarity dynamics.

Tian, C. ; Rump, A. ; Ebeid, C. ; Mamidi, A. ; Semb, H.

Salt-inducible kinases transduce mechanical forces into the specification of the pancreatic endocrine lineage.

Villalba, A. ; Gitton, Y. ; Inoue, M. ; Aiello, V. ; Blain, R. ; Toupin, M. ; Mazaud-Guittot, S. ; Rachdi, L. ; Semb, H. ; Chedotal, A. ; Scharfmann, R.

A 3D atlas of the human developing pancreas to explore progenitor proliferation and differentiation.

Hermann, F.M. ; Kjærgaard, M.F. ; Tian, C. ; Tiemann, U. ; Jackson, A. ; Olsen, L.R. ; Kraft, M. ; Carlsson, P.O. ; Elfving, I.M. ; Kettunen, J.L.T. ; Tuomi, T. ; Novak, I. ; Semb, H.

An insulin hypersecretion phenotype precedes pancreatic β cell failure in MODY3 patient-specific cells.

Spielberg, N. ; Brimpari, M. ; Semb, H.

The role of extracellular matrix proteins during in-vitro differentiation of Definitive Endoderm (DE) in 3D culture systems.

Heilmann, S. ; Semb, H. ; Nyeng, P.

Quantifying spatial position in a branched structure in immunostained mouse tissue sections.

Nyeng, P. ; Dela Cruz, G.V. ; Semb, H.

Flow cytometry detection of surface and intracellular antigens in pancreas from a single mouse embryo.

Nyeng, P. ; Heilmann, S. ; Löf-Öhlin, Z.M. ; Pettersson, N.F. ; Hermann, F.M. ; Reynolds, A.B. ; Semb, H.

P120ctn-mediated organ patterning precedes and determines pancreatic progenitor fate.

Mamidi, A. ; Prawiro, C. ; Seymour, P.A. ; de Lichtenberg, K.H. ; Jackson, A. ; Serup, P. ; Semb, H.

Mechanosignalling via integrins directs fate decisions of pancreatic progenitors.

Löf-Öhlin, Z.M. ; Nyeng, P. ; Bechard, M.E. ; Hess, K. ; Bankaitis, E. ; Greiner, T.U. ; Ameri, J. ; Wright, C.V. ; Semb, H.

EGFR signalling controls cellular fate and pancreatic organogenesis by regulating apicobasal polarity.

Ameri, J. ; Borup, R. ; Prawiro, C. ; Ramond, C. ; Schachter, K.A. ; Scharfmann, R. ; Semb, H.

Efficient generation of glucose-responsive beta cells from isolated GP2⁺ human pancreatic progenitors.

Funa, N.S. ; Schachter, K.A. ; Lerdrup, M. ; Ekberg, J. ; Hess, K. ; Dietrich, N. ; Honoré, C. ; Hansen, K. ; Semb, H.

β-Catenin Regulates Primitive Streak Induction through Collaborative Interactions with SMAD2/SMAD3 and OCT4.

Kesavan, G. ; Lieven, O. ; Mamidi, A. ; Öhlin, Z.L. ; Johansson, J.K. ; Li, W.C. ; Lommel, S. ; Greiner, T.U. ; Semb, H.

Cdc42/N-WASP signaling links actin dynamics to pancreatic β cell delamination and differentiation.

Sand, F.W. ; Hörnblad, A. ; Johansson, J.K. ; Lorén, C. ; Edsbagge, J. ; Ståhlberg, A. ; Magenheim, J. ; Ilovich, O. ; Mishani, E. ; Dor, Y. ; Ahlgren, U. ; Semb, H.

Growth-limiting role of endothelial cells in endoderm development.

Fischer, Y. ; Ganic, E. ; Ameri, J. ; Xian, X. ; Johannesson, M. ; Semb, H.

NANOG reporter cell lines generated by gene targeting in human embryonic stem cells.

Ameri, J. ; Ståhlberg, A. ; Pedersen, J. ; Johansson, J.K. ; Johannesson, M.M. ; Artner, I. ; Semb, H.

FGF2 specifies hESC-derived definitive endoderm into foregut/midgut cell lineages in a concentration-dependent manner.

Kesavan, G. ; Sand, F.W. ; Greiner, T.U. ; Johansson, J.K. ; Kobberup, S. ; Wu, X. ; Brakebusch, C. ; Semb, H.

Cdc42-mediated tubulogenesis controls cell specification.

Heng, D. ; Jin, K. ; Yin, G. ; Tian, C. ; Sheng, X. ; Lu, J. ; Wu, Y. ; Ye, X. ; Shi, P. ; Li, H. ; Liu, C. ; Liu, L. ; Zhu, Z.

Reprogramming senescent granulosa cells for germ-cell generation.

Tian, C. ; Di, Y. ; Muhammad, A. ; Semb, H.

CD133/CD49a discriminate between human pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic beta and alpha cells.

Jackson, A.L. ; Heilmann, S. ; Agerskov, R. ; Ebeid, C. ; Krivokapic, J.M. ; Romero Herrera, J.A. ; Semb, H. ; Nyeng, P.

Real-time imaging reveals new mechanisms for pancreatic ductal establishment and remodeling.

Modeling genetic risk of β-cell dysfunction in human induced pluripotent stem cells from patients carrying the MTNR1B risk variant.

Ebeid, C. ; Rump, A. ; Tian, C. ; Mamidi, A. ; de Arcangelis, A. ; Gradwohl, G. ; Semb, H.

Extracellular matrix-driven metabolic control of pancreatic endocrine lineage allocation.

Tian, C. ; Tiemann, U. ; Hermann, F. ; Semb, H.

Protocol for in vitro modeling of specification and morphogenesis of early pancreas development using human pluripotent stem cell-based organoid differentiation.

NAD depletion in skeletal muscle does not compromise muscle function or accelerate aging.

Tiemann, U. ; Tian, C. ; Hermann, F. ; Proks, M. ; Skovgaard, E. ; Kulik, I. ; Di, Y. ; Sedzinski, J. ; Semb, H.

Pancreatic alpha and beta cell fate choice is directed by apical-basal polarity dynamics.

Tian, C. ; Rump, A. ; Ebeid, C. ; Mamidi, A. ; Semb, H.

Salt-inducible kinases transduce mechanical forces into the specification of the pancreatic endocrine lineage.

Villalba, A. ; Gitton, Y. ; Inoue, M. ; Aiello, V. ; Blain, R. ; Toupin, M. ; Mazaud-Guittot, S. ; Rachdi, L. ; Semb, H. ; Chedotal, A. ; Scharfmann, R.

A 3D atlas of the human developing pancreas to explore progenitor proliferation and differentiation.

Institute of Translational Stem Cell Research

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New Study Reveals Key to How Pancreatic Insulin-Producing Beta Cells Are Formed

Handcrafted Langerhans Islets: New Hope for Type 1 Diabetes Patients?

EU-Project ISLET: Helmholtz Munich takes over coordination

Trigger in MODY3 diabetes: Insulin hypersecretion precedes pancreatic β cell failure

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