This breakthrough may open new possibilities where diabetic patients can produce insulin autonomously instead of being dependent on regular injections.
Type 1 diabetes, the exact cause of which is still a mystery, is thought to result from an autoimmune reaction that occurs when the body accidentally destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. In this context, scientists are trying to find a solution to the problem of diabetes by using stem cells to create insulin-producing cells to replace those destroyed by the immune system, New Atlas writes.
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In the human gut, gastric stem cells regenerate our intestinal lining every week. In addition, these cells develop into gut-specific tissues such as hormone-secreting enteroendocrine cells (EECs). Establishment of insulin-secreting EECs could be an important therapeutic strategy for type 1 diabetes patients suffering from insufficient insulin production.
The researchers realized this by transforming human gastric stem cells into insulin-producing cells that respond to glucose levels in a manner similar to healthy pancreatic beta cells.
“Given that the stomach produces its own hormone-secreting cells and that stomach and pancreatic cells coexist at the embryonic stage, it is not entirely surprising that gastric stem cells have evolved into insulin-producing cells,” said lead author of the study, Joe Zhou. study.
Zhou has devoted more than 15 years to this business. Their initial experiments showed that standard mouse pancreatic cells could transform into insulin-producing cells by triggering three transcription factors, which are proteins that regulate gene expression. Then, in 2016, Zhou and his team discovered that gastric stem cells are extremely sensitive to this three-way activation method.
In the latest study, scientists collected gastric stem cells using a non-invasive procedure known as endoscopy, which involves a thin, flexible tube equipped with a camera that allows an operator to take tissue samples.
These stem cells were grown into small organoid clusters after being transformed into beta-like cells called gastric insulin secreting cells (GISCs). These organelles responded quickly to glucose, releasing insulin in just ten days.
When these GISCs were implanted in diabetic mice, they mimicked the actions of real pancreatic beta cells to keep blood glucose levels stable by secreting insulin in response to high glucose levels. The researchers reported that insulin was continuously produced by these cells over a six-month follow-up period; this is an indication of their vitality.
“This study lays the foundation for the treatment of type 1 diabetes and advanced type 2 diabetes using patients’ own cells,” says Zhou.
As of 2021, approximately 8.4 million people worldwide have type 1 diabetes, and this number is expected to increase to 13.5-17.4 million by 2040. Currently, type 1 diabetes patients and some type 2 diabetes patients manage their condition with manual or automatic insulin injections.
According to the researchers, transplanting insulin-producing cells derived from patient stem cells is a more natural way to improve beta-cell function and potentially reduces the risk of transplant rejection.
Before starting clinical trials, the scientists plan to improve their technique, including boosting the production of beta-like cells for human transplantation. More importantly, they also focused on creating cells that would be less vulnerable to the attack of the immune system that destroys the beta cell in type 1 diabetes patients.
Previously Focus He wrote about a new way of giving insulin. This will help nanoparticles.
Source: Focus
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