Type 1 Diabetes affects over 9 million people worldwide, but how the autoimmune disease manifests is still not fully understood. Our goal is to get a better understanding of diabetes by creating a model that better represents the insulin-producing islets of Langerhans in the human body. Utilizing lab-on-a-chip technology to model blood vessels, revascularizied islets can be modelled, through which immune cells can migrate and mimick the immune response.
Impact
Most type 1 Diabetes patients have to regulate their own blood glucose levels by admistrating insulin because their own insulin producing cells have been destroyed by their immune system. Gaining knowledge about the onset of diabetes is of vital importance to preserve insulin function in patients. If we better understand the immune response in the disease, intervention can be improved to protect the insulin producing cells.
reNEW research
The reNEW Leiden Islet lab with the help of Dr. Orlova’s team in the Department of Anatomy and Embryology have developed an islet-on-a-chip model involving stem cell-derived blood vessels. This model allows for better functioning islets over a longer period of time. The next step is to introduce immune cells into the system to mimic the onset of diabetes and test methods to halt or prevent the progression of the disease.
Image description
An Islet of Langerhans surrounded by blood vessels.
Of particular interest is the part of the blood vessels that are also inside of the islet, which is difficult to model outside of the human body.
Credits
Maarten van Agen, PhD candidate, Islet lab (De Koning & Carlotti lab), reNEW Leiden.
