Diabetes
Cloning Approach Makes Diabetes Stem Cell Advance
New work appearing in the journal Nature, led by the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, promises a new way to potentially treat and manage Type 1 diabetes. The team used a cloning technique to create insulin-producing cells, which could then be used to force the pancreas to generate insulin, the hormone cut off by Type 1 diabetes. Though this work is in early-stage testing, it opens the door to new avenues for diabetes research and treatment.
Scientists at the University of Cincinnati, presenting their work at an American Diabetes Association meeting in San Francisco, report that an antibody called UT18 can be used to boost the activity of a type of receptor cell called TLR4, which then in turn prevents the body’s T-cells from attacking insulin-making beta cells, and could be used to reverse the onset of type 1 diabetes. In testing of this new method for attacking the development of type 1 diabetes, the research team reported they were able to reverse symptoms in a “high percentage” of mice. The next step is determining how well this work translates to humans.
New technology for diabetes patients
Using an iPhone, sophisticated software and an automated insulin pump, a biomechanical engineer in the US has co-created bionic pancreas, which is believed to have a potential to change the lives of diabetes patients
Columbia University researchers, in a follow up to breakthrough work which first appeared in Nature Genetics two years ago, report success in human cell tests to “retrain” intestinal cells to behave like pancreatic cells. By deactivating the FOXO1 gene in the intestinal cells, the research team discovered those cells could be coaxed into releasing insulin in response to glucose, which is exactly the active response type 1 diabetes patients require. If further testing proves positive, this work could be an important new step in helping type 1 diabetes patients manage the disease.