Using stem cells from the pancreas of a type 1 diabetic donor, researchers have succeeded in producing insulin. A possible advance towards new therapies to treat type 1 and type 2 diabetes, without insulin injections or surgery.
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Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of β-cells that produceinsulin in the pancreas. Patients with this type of diabetes must therefore inject insulin daily, or benefit from a transplantation : either the whole pancreas, or the islets of Langerhans where the β cells are found. Although the therapy proves effective, its widespread use is limited by the shortage of organ donors, as well as the side effects of associated immunosuppressive drugs.
Research then focused on the hypothesis of the plasticity pancreatic cells, the starting point of new study published in the magazine Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. Researchers at Monash University (Australia) used the stem cells from a donor pancreas diabetic type 1, in order to differentiate them into insulin-producing β cells.
To do this, they exposed these pancreatic progenitor cells to a very selective inhibitor called GSK126, which induced the expression of the embarrassed responsible for the activation of β cells despite their destruction in diabetic patients. However, the molecule is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in treatment anticancerbut not yet for diabetes.
Replace destroyed cells to produce insulin again
Professor Assam El-Osta, from the Department of Diabetes at Monash University and co-author of the study, valued that the experiences of his team address unmet medical needs in type 1 diabetes “. By replacing the insulin-producing cells destroyed in type 1 diabetics with new cells, the study shows that the diabetic pancreas is not incapable of expressinginsulin.
Advances in the field of genetic of diabetes have allowed “ a better understanding and, at the same time, renewed interest in the development of therapies potential added the professor. In addition, this new therapy has the double advantage of reducing dependence on insulin injections and avoiding the heaviness and complications associated with surgery of graft.
However, the study has limitations since it is an isolated case of a donor, presenting lesions of the characteristic islets of Langerhans and significant destruction of β cells. Thus, it is not known whether the results will be generalized, especially since the molecule has only been evaluatedin vitro.
” Further work is needed to define the properties of these cells and establish protocols to isolate and develop them, said Dr. Al-Hasani, co-author of the study. “I think therapy is still a long way off. However, it represents an important step on the way to designing a sustainable treatment that could be applicable to all types of diabetes. »
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