Cell Rep: New Diabetes Therapy Comes!

Cell Rep: New Diabetes Therapy Comes!

Recently, researchers from the University of Miami found through research that stimulating human progenitor cells in the pancreas may produce glucose-responsive beta cells, and the relevant research is expected to help researchers develop Regenerative Cell Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes.

For decades, scientists have assumed that there may be progenitor cells in the pancreas that can regenerate islets, but the researchers did not prove the hypothesis; in this article, researchers identified the exact anatomical location of the stem cells and confirmed the proliferative potential of the stem cells, as well as its ability to be transformed into beta cells that respond to glucose.

Dr. Juan Dominguez-Bendala, said that in-depth study of these pancreatic stem cells may help us use the endogenous cell supply library for beta-cell regeneration and develop a new treatment strategy for type 1 diabetes in the future. In conjunction with previous researchers using BMP-7 to stimulate the growth of pancreatic stem cells, the researchers concluded that they were fully capable of inducing these stem cells to transform into functional islet tissue.

Previously, researchers said that one of the FDA-approved clinically used natural growth factor, BMP-7, stimulates pancreatic-like cells in cultured human non-endocrine pancreatic tissue; in the current study, however, the researchers found that stem cells that respond to BMP-7 are located in the pancreatic ducts and in the glandular network; in addition, these cells express PDX1 and ALK3 proteins, the former of which are important for the development of β-cells, and the latter is a cell surface receptor that is directly related to the regeneration of multiple tissues. Using "molecular fishing," researchers selectively extracted cells expressing the two proteins and cultured them in culture dishes. The researchers also found that these cells proliferate in the presence of BMP-7 and subsequently differentiate into beta cells, and the findings may help researchers develop new tools for treating type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

In type 1 diabetes, the patient's body's immune system can mistakenly destroy insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, so patients need daily insulin therapy to manage their body's blood glucose levels effectively. In type 2 diabetes patients can develop insulin, but over time, the patient's body's beta cell function will become abnormal. Islet transplantation may be able to make part of the type 1 diabetes without the need for insulin injections under the premise of life, but now scientists do not have enough cells to treat millions of patients with diabetes. As a result, researchers need to develop more pancreas cells that can be transplanted, and an even more effective and safe method is to regenerate the body's cells that produce insulin.

At last, researcher Camillo Ricordi said providing a regenerative medicine strategy to restore the body's insulin production may hopefully replace the need for pancreas or insulin-producing cell transplantation in the future; in type 1 diabetes, researchers need to suppress the patient's autoimmune to prevent the neonatal insulin-producing cells from being destroyed by the

body's immune system. In later studies, researchers will also conduct more in-depth studies to develop novel therapies that are effective in treating both types of diabetes.