Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is marked by the autoimmune destruction of insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas, and a study finds that in a mouse model of T1D an approach combining haploidentical mixed chimersim, which involves transplanting hematopoietic cells from a parent or sibling using an optimized procedure, and administration of both the peptide hormone gastrin, which boosts beta cell mass, and epidermal growth factor, which promotes pancreatic epithelial cell growth, reversed autoimmunity, augmented beta cell regeneration, and normalized blood glucose levels by reactivating dysfunctional beta cells and transforming alpha cells into insulin-secreting beta cells, according to the authors.
Article #20-12389: "Reversal of autoimmunity by mixed chimerism enables reactivation of β cells and transdifferentiation of α cells in diabetic NOD mice," by Shanshan Tang et al.
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences