Florida Project: Stem Cell Provides Cure for Type 1 Diabetes

What is Type One Diabetes/ Juvenile Diabetes? : 

It is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. Only 5% of people with diabetes has this form. In Type One diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the sugars and starches eaten into a simple sugar called glucose which is used for energy. Insulin is the hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream to the cells of the body. Insulin treatment and other treatments are used to live long and healthy lives. (B) Living with T1D is a constant balancing act. People with T1D must regularly monitor their blood-sugar level, inject or continually infuse insulin through a pump, and carefully balance their insulin doses with eating and daily activities throughout the day and night.(C)

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone people need to get energy from food. T1D strikes both children and adults at any age and suddenly. Its onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. Though T1D’s causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers play a role. There is currently nothing you can do to prevent it, and there is no cure.(C) Scientists believe they may have moved a step closer to a cure for the type of diabetes that develops in childhood and usually leads to a lifetime of insulin injections.(A)

2016: The Possible Cure?:

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease.
In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the sugars and starches you eat into a simple sugar called glucose, which it uses for energy. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body. With the help of insulin therapy and other treatments, even young children can learn to manage their condition and live long, healthy lives.
- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/type-1/#sthash.DWtANr2q.dpuf

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease.
In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the sugars and starches you eat into a simple sugar called glucose, which it uses for energy. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body. With the help of insulin therapy and other treatments, even young children can learn to manage their condition and live long, healthy lives.
- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/type-1/#sthash.DWtANr2q.dpuf

By transplanting stem cells in mice with a 'reverse of the equivalent type 1 diabetes' allows for the replacement of cells in the pancreas which are damaged and therefore unable to produce insulin due to T1D. Without insulin, the body has difficulty absorbing sugars such as glucose from the blood. The disease usually first shows in childhood or early adulthood and used to be a killer, but glucose levels can now be monitored and regulated with insulin injections. These damaged B-cells (cells that normally produce insulin) are the prime targets of stem cell experiments. This is much more difficult than it sounds because Beta Cells/B-cells do not readily regenerate. (A)

Researchers in California reportin the 'Writing in the Journal Cell Stem Cell', Gladstone Institutes in San. Fran described how they collected skin cells known as fibroblasts from lab mice. They then treated the fibroblasts with unique cocktail of molecules and reprogramming factors. The cells were transformed into endoderm-like cells. These endoderm cells are found in the early stages of an embryo that eventually mature into the body's major organs (including the pancreas). (A) Another chemical cocktail was also used to transform the endoderm-like cells  into early pancreatic cells (aka: PPLCs). The initial goal was to coax PPLCs to mature into cells similar to B-cells to respond to the correct chemical signals and secrete insulin. Results of initial experiments which were performed on petri-dishes showed that they did do just that. (A)

The team then injected these cells into mice that had been genetically modified to have high glucose levels, mimicking the type 1 diabetes condition in humans. In just one week post-transplant the animals' glucose levels began to decrease approaching normal levels. Once the transplanted cells were removed there was an immediate spike in glucose levels. This showed the direct link between transplantation of PPLCs and reduced hyperglycemia (aka: high glucose levels). Two months post- transplant, the California researchers found that the pancreas like cells had turned into REAL fully functioning insulin secreting Beta cells had developed in the mice. These results show and prove that one day there might be a cure for type 1 diabetes in humans. (A)

Links:
(A)http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/06/scientists-closer-stem-cell-cure-type-1-diabetes
(C) http://jdrf.org/about/about-type-1-diabetes-t1d/