Comparing the behaviour of human and rodent beta cell lines for in vitro diabetes mellitus study

For the past 30 years, considerable effort has been made to generate useful rodent and human insulin-secreting cell lines to understand the complexity and functionality of the pancreatic beta cells. Since then, numerous types of research have been carried out using these cell lines to assess the pathology of diabetes mellitus. Among them, the cell lines INS-1, MIN6, 1.1B4 and EndoC-βH1 are the most widely used due to their stability and appropriate response to glucose stimulation. With multiple choices of cell lines available, there is a question of which cell line can be the best cell model for in vitro pancreatic beta cell study. The characterisation of each of these cell lines has already been vigorously studied, but there is still the need to understand how rodent and human cell lines differ from each other in order to choose the most appropriate cell model for a specific study. In this review, we explore the differences between human and rodent insulin-secreting cell lines in terms of their culturing condition, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and reaction toward oxidative stress. Together, it is hoped that these comparisons could provide new perspectives for researchers in dealing with the available insulin-secreting cell lines for their in vitro diabetic studies.

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