There is good news for diabetic patients. They will no
longer need to inject insulin – thanks to a treatment
involving the use of insulin-producing cells which
Harvard University scientists discovered how to make.
The cure could, therefore, be imminent as the scientists
have produced large volumes of laboratory-grown
pancreatic cells required for one-off transplantation in
patients.
The breakthrough has been hailed and compared to
the invention of antibiotics. It involved identifying how
to efficiently turn both stem cell types into beta cells.
The cells, millions of which were manufactured,
produced insulin, responded to glucose, worked on
mice for many months and will soon be used to treat
humans.
The discovery is the result of 23 years of research by
Harvard Professor Doug Melton, whose study of type 1
diabetes was prompted by his son having the
condition as a six-month-old. His daughter received
the same diagnoses.
The cells could be used to treat all patients rather than
each person needing their own genetically matched
treatment.
The cells tested on mice were placed in a porous
capsule to protect them from attacks by the body’s
immune system, while allowing the insulin to diffuse
out.
This means the cells could be produced on an
industrial scale and used on patients without possible
immune rejection, while the capsule could be replaced
if it stopped working.
A report on the work is published in the October 10
edition of the journal Cell. Online reports quoted Prof
Melton as saying: “It was gratifying to know that we
could do something that we always thought was
possible, but many people felt it wouldn’t work. We are
now just one pre-clinical step away from the finish
line.”
Asked about his children’s reaction he said: “I think
like all kids, they always assumed that if I said I’d do
this, I’d do it.”
Prof Melton said the stem cell-derived beta cells are
presently undergoing trials in animal models, including
non-human primates, where they are still producing
insulin after several months,.
The team at Harvard used embryonic stem cells to
produce human insulin-producing cells equivalent in
almost every way to normally functioning cells.
The Telegraph quoted Professor of Regenerative
Medicine, University College London Chris Mason as
saying the discovery was “potentially a major medical
breakthrough”.
“If this scalable technology is proven to work in both
the clinic and in the manufacturing facility, the impact
on the treatment of diabetes will be a medical game-
changer on a par with antibiotics and bacterial
infections,” he said.
Head of Institute of Integrative Biology at the University
of Liverpool, Prof Anthony Hollander, added: “This is
very exciting fundamental research that solves a major
roadblock in the development of a stem cell treatment
for diabetes.
“The study provides a very elegant and convincing
method for generating functional insulin-producing
cells in large numbers.”
Prof Mark Dunne of Manchester University said:
“Overall this is an important advance for the field of
diabetes and people with Type 1 diabetes.”
Prof Elaine Fuchs of Rockefeller University described
the findings as “one of the most important advances
to date in the stem cell field”, adding: “For decades,
researchers have tried to generate human pancreatic
beta cells that could be cultured and passaged long
term under conditions where they produce insulin.”
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that
causes the pancreas to stop producing insulin – the
hormone that regulates blood glucose levels.
If the amount of glucose in the blood is too high it
can seriously damage the body’s organs over time.
While diabetics can keep their glucose levels under
general control by injecting insulin, that does not
provide the fine tuning necessary to properly control
metabolism, which can lead to devastating
complications such as blindness or loss of limbs.
