Search Results for: betalogics stem cell

June 28, 2012

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Diabetes is a detrimental disease. In order to combat the illness, University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers conducted a study with an industry partner and discovered that stem cells can reverse Type 1 diabetes in mice.

The discovery leads the way for the development of innovative treatments of diabetes, which is caused by deficient production of insulin by the pancreas. Insulin allows glucose to be held by the bodys muscle, fat, and liver; in turn, its used as fuel for the body. Blindness, heart attack, kidney failure, nerve damage, and stroke are possible consequences of low insulin production. The research by the UBC investigators addressed these various issues. The study was led by Timothy Kieffer, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, as well as scientists from BetaLogics, the New Jersey-based division of Janssen Research & Development, LLC.

We are very excited by these findings, but additional research is needed before this approach can be tested clinically in humans, remarked Kieffer, a member of UBCs Life Sciences Institute, in a prepared statement.

The team of investigators is the first to demonstrate that human stem cell transplants can bring back insulin production and reverse diabetes in mice. They were able to re-create the feedback loop that allows insulin levels to automatically increase or decrease based on blood glucose levels. The results from their projects was recently published online on the website of the journal Diabetes.

Following the stem cell transplant, the diabetes mice were slowly taken off insulin, a procedure which was to mirror human clinical condition. Even if they were given copious amounts of sugar, the mice were able to continue healthy blood sugar levels three to four months later. The transplanted cells that were removed from the mice many months after the experiments also showed signs of normal insulin-producing pancreatic cells.

Essentially, the mice were cured of their diabetes by placing the body back in charge of regulated insulin production as it is in healthy, non-diabetics, Kieffer told the Vancouver Sun. It took about four to five months for the [stem] cells to become functional in our experiments and the mice were able to maintain good blood glucose levels even when fed a high-glucose diet, said Kieffer, a UBC professor in the department of cellular and physiological sciences.

Research still needs to be done to finalize details of the approach for diabetes treatment.

The studies were performed in diabetic mice that lacked a properly functioning immune system that would otherwise have rejected the cells. We now need to identify a suitable way of protecting the cells from immune attack so that the transplant can ultimately be performed in the absence of any immunosuppression, explained Kieffer in the statement.

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Diabetes Reversal In Mice Via Stem Cells

ScienceDaily (June 27, 2012) University of British Columbia scientists, in collaboration with an industry partner, have successfully reversed diabetes in mice using stem cells, paving the way for a breakthrough treatment for a disease that affects nearly one in four Canadians.

The research by Timothy Kieffer, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, and scientists from the New Jersey-based BetaLogics, a division of Janssen Research & Development, LLC, is the first to show that human stem cell transplants can successfully restore insulin production and reverse diabetes in mice. Crucially, they re-created the "feedback loop" that enables insulin levels to automatically rise or fall based on blood glucose levels. The study is published online June 27 in the journal Diabetes.

After the stem cell transplant, the diabetic mice were weaned off insulin, a procedure designed to mimic human clinical conditions. Three to four months later, the mice were able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels even when being fed large quantities of sugar. Transplanted cells removed from the mice after several months had all the markings of normal insulin-producing pancreatic cells.

"We are very excited by these findings, but additional research is needed before this approach can be tested clinically in humans," says Kieffer, a member of UBC's Life Sciences Institute. "The studies were performed in diabetic mice that lacked a properly functioning immune system that would otherwise have rejected the cells. We now need to identify a suitable way of protecting the cells from immune attack so that the transplant can ultimately be performed in the absence of any immunosuppression."

The research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Stem Cell Network of Canada, Stem Cell Technologies of Vancouver, the JDRF and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

Diabetes results from insufficient production of insulin by the pancreas. Insulin enables glucose to be stored by the body's muscle, fat and liver and used as fuel; a shortage of insulin leads to high blood sugar that raises the risk of blindness, heart attack, stroke, nerve damage and kidney failure.

Regular injections of insulin are the most common treatment for the type 1 form of this disease, which often strikes young children. Although experimental transplants of healthy pancreatic cells from human donors have shown to be effective, that treatment is severely limited by the availability of donors.

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Diabetes reversed in mice using stem cells

VANCOUVER In a world's first, University of B.C. scientists have used human embryonic stem cell transplants to reverse diabetes in mice.

A 13-member team, whose work was published Wednesday in the journal Diabetes, showed that as the stem cells matured into insulin-secreting cells (beta-cells in the pancreas), a few dozen diabetic mice were weaned gradually off insulin over a period of months.

The study, which cost at least $500,000, was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Stem Cell Network of Canada, Stem Cell Technologies of Vancouver, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Michael Smith Foundation of Health Research. About half the research team was comprised of scientists from the New Jersey private research and development arm (BetaLogics Venture) of Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

"It took about four to five months for the (stem) cells to become functional in our experiments and the mice were able to maintain good blood glucose levels even when fed a high-glucose diet," said lead author Timothy Kieffer, a UBC professor in the department of cellular and physiological sciences.

Type 1 otherwise known as juvenile diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a patient's immune system kills off insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Typically, patients must inject themselves with insulin or use insulin pumps to control their blood glucose levels.

While pancreatic islet cell transplantation pioneered at the University of Alberta several years ago has been shown to be an effective way of reducing dependence on insulin injections, such treatments are costly and cumbersome since they require cells culled from dead bodies; such cells are always in short supply. As well, islet cell transplant patients must forever take anti-rejection drugs that can cause organ damage.

Although the research showed that stem cells have great potential as a diabetes cure, it also revealed there are still a few pitfalls to overcome before agencies like the Food and Drug Administration in the United States or Health Canada approve such a therapy. Some mice developed bone or cartilage growths in areas where the cells were inserted, an unacceptable side-effect that future experiments must resolve.

Another obstacle is that the mice used in the study weren't typical; they were a special strain, bred to be immuno-compromised so they wouldn't reject the human cells as foreign invaders. Studies are continuing at UBC, in many more mice, to determine the feasibility of encapsulating stem cells in a membrane material that won't be recognized as a foreign body and rejected.

Kieffer said he's extremely encouraged by the fact that the mice not only were weaned off their need for insulin but also lived well and long, even though they were bred to be immune-deficient. Still, he said, researchers must find ways to fine-tune the approach so that cells don't evolve into something other than what's desired.

In the early stages of the experiment, some mice developed fluid-filled cysts, a problem that was rectified in the laboratory with a cell culture medium change.

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Canadian scientists use stem cells to reverse diabetes in mice

Public release date: 27-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Brian Kladko brian.kladko@ubc.ca 604-827-3301 University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia scientists, in collaboration with an industry partner, have successfully reversed diabetes in mice using stem cells, paving the way for a breakthrough treatment for a disease that affects nearly one in four Canadians.

The research by Timothy Kieffer, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, and scientists from the New Jersey-based BetaLogics, a division of Janssen Research & Development, LLC, is the first to show that human stem cell transplants can successfully restore insulin production and reverse diabetes in mice. Crucially, they re-created the "feedback loop" that enables insulin levels to automatically rise or fall based on blood glucose levels. The study is published online today in the journal Diabetes.

After the stem cell transplant, the diabetic mice were weaned off insulin, a procedure designed to mimic human clinical conditions. Three to four months later, the mice were able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels even when being fed large quantities of sugar. Transplanted cells removed from the mice after several months had all the markings of normal insulin-producing pancreatic cells.

"We are very excited by these findings, but additional research is needed before this approach can be tested clinically in humans," says Kieffer, a member of UBC's Life Sciences Institute. "The studies were performed in diabetic mice that lacked a properly functioning immune system that would otherwise have rejected the cells. We now need to identify a suitable way of protecting the cells from immune attack so that the transplant can ultimately be performed in the absence of any immunosuppression."

The research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Stem Cell Network of Canada, Stem Cell Technologies of Vancouver, the JDRF and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

Diabetes results from insufficient production of insulin by the pancreas. Insulin enables glucose to be stored by the body's muscle, fat and liver and used as fuel; a shortage of insulin leads to high blood sugar that raises the risk of blindness, heart attack, stroke, nerve damage and kidney failure.

Regular injections of insulin are the most common treatment for the type 1 form of this disease, which often strikes young children. Although experimental transplants of healthy pancreatic cells from human donors have shown to be effective, that treatment is severely limited by the availability of donors.

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Stem cells can beat back diabetes: UBC research