An experiment led by researchers at Wyle Cornell Medical College in the US showed that transplantation of insulin-secreting cells (GINS) into the stomach reversed diabetes in mice. It’s a breakthrough that promises an effective way to treat conditions like type 1 diabetes. The results of the work of scientists have been published. magazine Nature Cell Biology (Part of Nature).
Pancreatic beta cells normally do their job of releasing the hormone insulin in response to high blood sugar levels. In people with diabetes, these tissues do not perform their functions. Prolonged violation of carbohydrate metabolism can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis – a condition characterized by the accumulation of ketones and glucose in the plasma, an increase in blood acidity. It proceeds acutely: appetite disappears, nausea and vomiting appear, abdominal pain, the smell of acetone in the inhaled air. In the absence of medical care, confusion, coma, and death occur.
Scientists have succeeded in growing GINS cells from gastric stem cells that can mimic the function of beta cells. During the study, the team activated three specific proteins in the cells that control gene expression in a specific sequence to trigger the transformation of stem cells into GINS cells.
These cells were grown in the lab, and experiments showed they were sensitive to glucose. They were then transplanted into experimental mice with diabetes – which cured them of the disease.
“This study provides us with a solid foundation for developing patients’ own cell-based therapies for type I diabetes and severe type II diabetes,” the authors write.