A chemical produced in the pancreas that prevented and even reversed Type 1 diabetes in mice had the same effect on human
beta cells transplanted into mice, new research has found.
«Novel type 1 diabetes treatment shown to work on human
beta cells transplanted into mice.»
About 10 percent of the more than 26 million Americans living with type 2 diabetes are also dependent upon insulin injections, and would presumably be candidates for
beta cell transplants, Melton said.
Earlier studies suggested this process contributes to the high mortality and low insulin production often displayed in
beta cell transplants, which aim to replace cells that the body's own immune system kills off in type 1 diabetes.
Not exact matches
Beta cells donated from deceased individuals have already been
transplanted into diabetic patients through a procedure called the Edmonton protocol.
When the team
transplanted the
cells into diabetic mice whose own
beta cells had been destroyed artificially with a chemical, the
cells acted like healthy
beta cells.
At the very least, Domínguez - Bendala hopes that they could use BMP - 7 to convert the other 98 per cent of donor pancreas
cells into
beta cells, which, he estimates, could potentially provide enough insulin - producing
cells to
transplant into seven people.
Unlike
transplanted beta cells — or other types of real
cells genetically engineered to release insulin for diabetes treatment (SN: 1/15/11, p. 9)-- these artificial
cells could be mass - produced and have a much longer shelf life than live
cells, says study coauthor Zhen Gu, a biomedical engineer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Cells were transplanted to the kidney capsule and photo was taken two weeks later by which time the beta cells are making insulin and have cured the diabetes in the m
Cells were
transplanted to the kidney capsule and photo was taken two weeks later by which time the
beta cells are making insulin and have cured the diabetes in the m
cells are making insulin and have cured the diabetes in the mouse.
Faustman got her idea by chance while
transplanting islets, the pancreatic bodies that contain
beta cells, from normal mice into others that had lost theirs to type 1, or juvenile, diabetes.
In the case of whole pancreas transplantation, major surgery is required; and in
beta cell islet transplantation, the body's immune system can still attack the
transplanted cells and kill off a large proportion of them (80 % in some cases).
«The loss of insulin - producing
beta cells leads to type 1 diabetes, making it an ideal target for
cell replacement therapy,» said James Shapiro, MD, PhD, FRCSC, Director of the Clinical Islet
Transplant Program, University of Alberta.
«One could envision expanding
beta cells created from IPS
cells in vitro and then
transplanting them,» he says.
In work reported in the journal PLoS One in June, the scientists compared healthy human
beta cells from surgical donors with
beta cells that had been
transplanted into mice with suppressed immune systems.
In addition, when these inhibitory progenitor
cells were
transplanted into apoE4 mice with an accumulation of amyloid
beta, prior deficits were alleviated.
In the study, which was conducted in collaboration with researchers at UC San Francisco and published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists
transplanted inhibitory neuron progenitors — early - stage brain
cells that have the capacity to develop into mature inhibitory neurons — into two mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, apoE4 or apoE4 with accumulation of amyloid
beta, another major contributor to Alzheimer's.
Islet
transplants Insulin is normally produced by islet or
beta cells in the pancreas.
The
cell types involved in diabetes — the
beta and immune
cells — are being studied in the culture dish, as well as
transplanted into lab animals.
Our efforts to monitor
beta cells after
transplant and identify signs of early demise in both native and
transplanted cells will make it possible to stop
cell injury, significantly advancing prevention efforts and strengthening
transplant techniques.
To create a lasting source of insulin - producing
beta cells for
transplant, we are developing new methods to promote differentiation from pancreatic stem
cells into healthy islets.
Nowadays, diabetics can choose an organ
transplant in order to restore damaged pancreatic
beta cells, but that's challenging route, restricted to a lack of organ donors, and individuals can wait years.