Researchers induce insulin-secreting cells

Stem cell derived therapies hold great promise for researchers working to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.

Stem cell derived therapies hold great promise for researchers working to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and according to a University of WA research teams work, we are one step closer.

Type 1 diabetes is characterised by abnormally high levels of sugar glucose in the bloodstream and it develops when the body's immune system sees its own cells as foreign and attacks them.

As a result, the islet cells of the pancreas, which normally produce insulin, are destroyed, and in the absence of insulin, glucose cannot enter the cell so it accumulates in the blood.

For decades, diabetes research has searched for ways to replace the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas that are destroyed by a patient's own immune system.

Many have turned their attention to embryonic stem cells because they can replicate indefinitely.

More recently, they have turned their attention to adult stem cells that appear to be precursors to islet cells and embryonic stem cells that produce insulin.

Bolstered by a recent grant from Diabetes Australia, UWA Associate Professor Fang-Xu Jiangs research seeks to combat diabetes by driving the adult stem cells to Pdx1 cells to become insulin-secreting cells.

Pdx1 is necessary for pancreatic development and the maturation of beta-cells, which are present in the pancreas.

Prof Jiang says currently scientists around the world can only induce embryonic stem cells into pancreatic progenitorsmarked by a key molecule known as Pdx1.

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Researchers induce insulin-secreting cells