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Revolutionary strategy offers hope for type 1 diabetes treatment
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025
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Regenerative medicine holds great promise for creating cells, tissues, and organs without the need for donor material. However, such approaches face a number of challenges, including the difficulty of targeting stem cell differentiation and the problem of immune rejection, which requires the use of immunosuppressants.
Scientists from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and the University of Florida have developed an innovative strategy for treating type 1 diabetes (T1D) that combines transplantation of engineered beta cells and localized immune protection using specialized immune cells.
Key aspects of the study:
The essence of the T1D problem:
- In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, making patients dependent on glucose monitoring and insulin injections.
- Existing methods, such as islet cell transplantation, require continuous immunosuppression and are donor dependent, which limits their use.
Innovative strategy:
- The researchers used beta cells derived from stem cells with the addition of an inert marker (EGFR, an inactive version of the epidermal growth factor receptor).
- To protect these cells, regulatory T cells (Tregs) modified with CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) technology were used to recognize and protect the marked beta cells.
Results of experiments on mice:
- After transplantation, the beta cells began to produce insulin and function in the mice.
- Under simulated aggressive immune response conditions, beta cells survived due to the protective effects of modified Tregs.
Significance of the study:
- Creating a "lock and key": The method combines differentiated stem cells (the "lock") and protective Tregs (the "key"), creating the basis for developing new approaches to treating T1D and other diseases.
- Practical applications: This approach could be used to treat not only diabetes, but also autoimmune diseases such as lupus, or to fight cancer cells.
Remaining questions:
- Selection of appropriate markers: Markers for human transplantation must be inert and safe.
- Long-term protection: It is unclear whether single treatment with Tregs will be sufficient to maintain immune tolerance or whether repeated therapy will be required.
Prospects:
The method has the potential to transform type 1 diabetes from a chronic disease into a condition that can be much more easily controlled, minimizing complications and improving patients’ quality of life. Research is ongoing, but early results are already encouraging.
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.