A stem cell engineering company - Novocell, Inc. - is developing a process that efficiently converts human embryonic stem cells into insulin-producing pancreatic endocrine cells.
The said approach could provide a means to produce sufficient quantities of insulin producing cells for transplantation into patients with Type 1 diabetes.
Transplantation of insulin producing cells is a treatment that offers a potential therapy for type 1 diabetes.
The Novocell researchers reported the following in an article:
...a differentiation process that successfully engineers human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into endocrine cells capable of producing insulin as well as other pancreatic endocrine hormones glucagon, somatostatin, pancreatic polypeptide and ghrelin.
The in vitro differentiation process mimics normal pancreatic development in the body.
The study findings appear on-line (a pdf file) on October 19 in advance of print publication, in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
Find more details from the Novocell Press Release.
[In Photo: human embronic stem cells via Novocell, Inc.]
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