SC-islets provide a renewable source of insulin-producing cells to replace the beta cells in the pancreas that diabetes has taken out of the game. These cells could overcome the shortage of donor pancreatic islets for transplantation. Also, SC-islets serve an invaluable research tool for advancing our understanding of islet biology and diabetes pathophysiology.
Impact
Stem cell islet therapy represents a groundbreaking approach to revolutionising the treatment of diabetes, particularly type 1 diabetes, with far-reaching implications for human health and society. This therapy may offer hope for millions of people with diabetes worldwide and could change the game for them.
reNEW research
We aimed to apply SC-islets for clinical application to treat patients with type 1 diabetes. We are in the preclinical phase at the moment.
Image description
SC-islets contain multiple cell types, including mainly insulin-producing beta cells, glucagon-producing alpha cells and somatostatin producing delta cells.They replicate the cellular composition and function of pancreatic islets.
Credits
Bahareh Rajaei, Lizanne Daleman, Islet lab (Eelco de Koning and Françoise Carlotti’s lab), Leiden.
