Objective
The objective is to generate a new therapeutic approach to find a cure for type 1 diabetes. This approach may stop the autoimmune response as well and heal the insulin producing cells.
Background Rationale
Type 1 diabetes occurs due to misleading of the immune system to kill the insulin producing cells of the pancreas. We have developed a method to retrain the immune system to stop attacking its own body. We found that two growth factors could help in this training process, but they did it poorly. We joined the two growth factors and made a super growth factor that works better than when they were alone. To our surprise this new growth factor not only stops the harmful immune attack, but also heals the injured cells in the pancreas and the kidneys. This new drug can also make the body create new cells to replace the damaged cells in the pancreas and the kidneys. Here we will investigate if this new drug can also promote acceptance and healing of islet transplantation.
Description of Project
People with type-1 diabetes lose their insulin producing cells. Transplantation of islets is an effective approach to overcome these issues. However, the survival of transplanted islets works poorly due to several factors including injury of islet cell preparation and the recipient’s immune system. We have identified a special category of regulatory cells that can not only prevent the injury of islets, but also can suppress the islet-damaging immune response. We have also generated a novel therapeutic reagent that can stop ongoing immune-mediated diabetes. This reagent may also promote repair of the insulin producing islet cells. We will explore if treatment with the regulatory cells and/or the new reagent can prolong the survival of the transplanted islets.
Anticipated Outcome
We hope that by the end of this study, we will be able to make sure how this drug can make the body replace the damaged cells and whether there is any bad side effect or not. After the success of this project, we will be able to test this drug in people and patients. Best part is that this drug heals both the insulin-making cells and the kidneys. This drug also heals the pancreas and cures the diabetes, which occurs due to obesity and bad food choices. Best part is that people will diabetes die of kidney failure and this new approach also works on stopping kidney disease and heals the kidney, including transplanted islet cells.
Relevance to T1D
The research is directly relevant to type 1 diabetes, because the drug on one hand trains the immune system and on the other hand directly heals the insulin producing cells. This new approach also makes the insulin producing cells more healthy, so that they are shielded from future attacks and damage.