Scientists generate human islet precursor cells ...( . One of NIDDK's goals for long-t...)

One of NIDDK's goals for long-term diabetes research is to better understand the beta cell and how it regenerates. These findings may eventually have implications for diabetes treatments, including islet transplantation. Islet transplantation involves the infusion of islets derived from donor pancreata into a person with complicated type 1 diabetes. The hope is that some of the transplanted cells will survive in the pancreas and continue producing insulin. A major obstacle to the wider use of islet transplantation as a treatment for type 1 diabetes is the small number of donor pancreata that become available for use each year and the large number of islets needed for transplantation. The NIDDK is focusing its research on understanding the beta cell and its regeneration and on efforts to develop alternative sources of beta cells.

The researchers hope that future studies will corroborate their findings and address some of the unanswered questions. For example, the researchers plan to conduct studies to try to define the optimal environmental conditions to grow precursor cells and to stimulate them to differentiate into hormone-producing cells. Their goal is to design a cellular environment as close as possible to the natural environment of a healthy human pancreas. Another challenge is to develop a culture medium that does not rely on animal serum, so cells grown in the lab can be transplanted back into people with a minimum risk of side effects.

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Contact: Marcia Vital
301-496-3583
NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
25-Nov-2004