 |
| L-R: Dr Keith Al-Hasani, Dr Ishant Khurana and Professor Sam El-Osta, lead authors on the beta cell regeneration study. Ishant Khurana explains more about the research in a video (1:02 mins) and see animation |
In a world-first, a study by Monash University has discovered a pathway to the regeneration of insulin in pancreatic stem cells, a major breakthrough toward new therapies to treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Using the pancreas stem cells of type 1 diabetic donor, researchers were able to effectively reactivate them to become insulin-expressing and functionally resemble beta-like cells through the use of a drug which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration but is not currently licensed for diabetes treatment.
The new approach, though it requires further work, would in principle allow insulin-producing cells (beta-cells) that are destroyed in type 1 diabetics to be replaced with newborn insulin-generating cells.
