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Battling Diabetes with Beta Cells
September 03, 2008Affecting eight percent of America's population, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, strokes and heart disease. Thanks to Tel Aviv University researchers, a new cure -- based on advances in cell therapy -- may be within reach.
Prof. Shimon Efrat from TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, whose research group is among world leaders in beta cell expansion, has developed a way to cultivate cells derived from insulin-producing beta cells from human tissue in the laboratory. It may be possible to implant these new healthy cells into patients with type 1 diabetes.
If successful, this method, which artificially replicates the insulin cells people need, could ensure that fewer people will die while waiting for a life-saving pancreas and kidney. Prof. Efrat's research paves the way for new and alternative forms of treatment in cases in which organ transplantation is not an option. And one day, the procedure may be as simple as a blood transfusion.
The Multiplication Effect
Type 1 diabetes, the most severe form of the condition, emerges as a chronic condition in childhood or early adulthood, when the body's immune system stops working properly and destroys the beta cells in the pancreas. Beta cells are needed to produce insulin, and a shortage of insulin inhibits the breakdown of food into energy. By the time a diagnosis is made, most beta cells are destroyed beyond repair. Injections of insulin can ease the symptoms, but some sufferers from the disease eventually require extreme measures, such as organ transplants, to stay alive.
"The shortage of organ donors makes the development of new cell sources for cell therapy critical," says Prof. Efrat. "Using beta cell expansion, we are able to grow a massive reserve of healthy cells that may be made to produce enough insulin to restore the function of the destroyed cells."
In contrast to previous research, which failed to multiply mouse beta cells in culture, Prof. Efrat's work has increased the number of human beta cells successfully. "In theory, cells from one donor can be multiplied thousands of times," says Prof. Efrat, explaining that the next hurdle will be to "convince" these beta cells to produce insulin in the human body. Another major hurdle he faces is to get a body's immune system to accept these new cells when transplanted. Human clinical trials, Prof. Efrat cautions, may not begin for another five years or more.
The research, published in the acclaimed journal Diabetes and featured in a report by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, was performed in collaboration with the graduate students Holger Russ and Yael Bar.
American Friends of Tel Aviv University
The Multiplication Effect
Type 1 diabetes, the most severe form of the condition, emerges as a chronic condition in childhood or early adulthood, when the body's immune system stops working properly and destroys the beta cells in the pancreas. Beta cells are needed to produce insulin, and a shortage of insulin inhibits the breakdown of food into energy. By the time a diagnosis is made, most beta cells are destroyed beyond repair. Injections of insulin can ease the symptoms, but some sufferers from the disease eventually require extreme measures, such as organ transplants, to stay alive.
"The shortage of organ donors makes the development of new cell sources for cell therapy critical," says Prof. Efrat. "Using beta cell expansion, we are able to grow a massive reserve of healthy cells that may be made to produce enough insulin to restore the function of the destroyed cells."
In contrast to previous research, which failed to multiply mouse beta cells in culture, Prof. Efrat's work has increased the number of human beta cells successfully. "In theory, cells from one donor can be multiplied thousands of times," says Prof. Efrat, explaining that the next hurdle will be to "convince" these beta cells to produce insulin in the human body. Another major hurdle he faces is to get a body's immune system to accept these new cells when transplanted. Human clinical trials, Prof. Efrat cautions, may not begin for another five years or more.
The research, published in the acclaimed journal Diabetes and featured in a report by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, was performed in collaboration with the graduate students Holger Russ and Yael Bar.
American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Beta Cells Current Events and Beta Cells News RSSCHEO RI study uses sophisticated genetic engineering to improve insulin-producing beta cells
One of the biggest mysteries about diabetes is why specialized cells in the pancreas stop secreting insulin, which the body needs in order to store glucose from food.
Team reveals molecular mechanism underlying a form of diabetes
By investigating a rare and severe form of diabetes in children, University of Iowa researchers have discovered a new molecular mechanism that regulates specialized pancreatic cells and insulin secretion.
Diabetes advance: Researchers find gene that causes resistance to insulin
A breakthrough by an international team of researchers in Canada, France, the UK and Denmark has uncovered a new gene that could lead to better treatment of type 2 diabetes, as well as a better understanding of how this widespread disease develops.
Exercise alone shown to improve insulin sensitivity in obese sedentary adolescents
A moderate aerobic exercise program, without weight loss, can improve insulin sensitivity in both lean and obese sedentary adolescents.
Taking the Needle's Sting Out of Diabetes
Found in 30% of all human cancer tumors, the Ras protein literally "drives cells crazy," says Prof. Yoel Kloog, the dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University. Prof. Kloog was the first in the world to develop an effective anti-Ras drug against pancreatic cancer, currently in clinical trials.
UT Southwestern physicians bust myths about insulin
People diagnosed with type 2 diabetes often resist taking insulin because they fear gaining weight, developing low blood sugar and seeing their quality of life decline.
Noninsulin-producing alpha cells in the pancreas can be converted to insulin-producing beta cells
In findings that add to the prospects of regenerating insulin-producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes, researchers in Europe -- co-funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation -- have shown that insulin-producing beta cells can be derived from non-insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
MRI May Help Physicians Diagnose, Stage and Treat Diabetes
Noninvasive imaging (MRI) may aid physicians in the early diagnosis, staging and treatment of diabetes, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.
Stem cell research: From molecular physiology to therapeutic applications
Stem cell research promises remedies to many devastating diseases that are currently incurable, ranging from diabetes and Parkinson's disease to paralysis.
Common allergy drug reduces obesity and diabetes in mice
Crack open the latest medical textbook to the chapter on type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes, and you'll be hard pressed to find the term "immunology" anywhere.
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