New discoveries may pave the way for improved treatments for diabetes

July 23, 2022

LR: Dr. Keith Al Hasani, Dr. Ishant Flana, and Professor Sam El Osta are the lead authors of beta cell regeneration research. July 28, 2022 12: 30-1: 00pm Ask questions at the AEST webinar. register

For the first time in the world, a study by Monash University discovered a pathway for insulin regeneration in pancreatic stem cells. This is a major advance in new therapies for treating type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Using pancreatic stem cells from type 1 diabetic donors, researchers effectively reactivate them to express insulin by using drugs that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration but are not currently approved. I was able to functionally resemble beta-like cells. Approved for the treatment of diabetes.

The new approach requires more work, but in principle it can replace the destroyed insulin-producing cells (beta cells) in patients with type 1 diabetes with neonatal insulin-producing cells.

Research led by diabetes experts Professor Sam El OstaWhen Dr. Ishant Flanafrom Monash DiabetologyIs a potential treatment option for insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus that is diagnosed daily in 7 Australian children to replace insulin that is no longer produced by the injured pancreas and results in a lifelong test of blood glucose levels and daily insulin injections. May lead to.

As the number of diabetes cases approaches 500 million worldwide, researchers face the challenge of improving the currently limited pool of treatments.

“Our research is novel and we believe it is an important step towards the development of new therapies,” says Professor El-Osta. To restore insulin expression in the injured pancreas, the diabetic pancreas was often thought to be too injured to heal, and researchers had to overcome a series of challenges.

The findings are currently published in the Nature Journal.Signal transduction and targeted therapy..

By the time an individual is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D), many of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells have been completely destroyed, according to Professor El-Osta. He said these studies show that “diabetic pancreas is not unable to express insulin” and that proof-of-concept experiments “address unmet medical needs in T1D.” Advances in the genetics of diabetes have led to “a deeper understanding and a resurgence of interest in the development of potential treatments that accompany it,” said Professor El-Osta.

“Patients rely on daily insulin injections to replace what would have been produced by the pancreas. Currently, the only other effective treatment requires an islet transplant, which is a diabetic patient. Although it has improved the health outcomes of the patient, transplantation is limited because it depends on the donor of the organ, “says Professor El-Osta.

Dr. Alhasani, co-author of this study, faces the challenge of increasing the number of type 2 diabetes, which is strongly associated with global aging and increased obesity, and the need for diabetes treatment is increasingly urgent. It states that it has become. ..

“There are many problems that need to be resolved before going to the patient,” said Dr. Alhasani. “More work is needed to define the properties of these cells and establish a protocol for separating and expanding them. I think the treatment is quite far away. But this is a sustained treatment. It’s an important step in devising. It may apply to all types of diabetes. “

Professor El-Osta, Dr. Al-Hasani, and Dr. Khurana have developed an innovative way to regenerate insulin cells without the ethical concerns commonly associated with embryonic stem cells.

Read the full treatise Inhibition of pancreatic EZH2, entitled “Signal Transmission and Targeted Therapy” in the Nature Journal, restores precursor insulin for T1D donors. DOI: 10.1038 / s41392-022-01034-7

Webinar July 28, 2022 12: 30-1 pm AEST: We hold a webinar for readers who want to ask researchers directly about new research. Register here

video

• (3:02 minutes): Animation showing the biological mechanism. Link
• (1:02 min): Dr. Ishant Flana explains the research in detail. Link