The results of this study have implications for helping both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients
Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine — Klaus Kaestner PhD, professor of Genetics and postdoctoral Dana Avrahami, PhD, from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, published a study this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, In which they were able to replicate human pancreatic beta cells – the cells in our body that produce the critical hormone insulin. The newly replicated cells retained features of mature beta cells and showed a physiological response to glucose.
The results of this proof-of-principle experiment have implications for helping both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients. In type 1 diabetes, beta cells are destroyed by the patient’s own immune system and thus restoration of their numbers must be coupled with a method of preventing immune-mediated destruction. Similarly, a decrease in the number of functional insulin-producing beta cells contributes to the development of type 2 diabetes, so in principle, restoration of beta-cell mass can reverse or ameliorate both forms of diabetes.
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