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A Major Advancement for RegMed XB’s Diabetes Moonshot
As part of RegMed XB’s diabetes moonshot, researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have developed a method to enhance the purity of insulin-producing islets, grown from stem cells in the laboratory. While originally aimed at diabetes, this technique has broader implications and could be applied to various stem cell-based therapies.
Diabetes Moonshot: Addressing a Growing Health Challenge
In The Netherlands, approximately 1.2 million people are diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, which means that one in every fourteen individuals will face this diagnosis at some point in their lives. Of these cases, 10% are attributed to type 1 diabetes.
In individuals with type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a crucial hormone that enables cells to absorb glucose (sugar), providing the energy needed for proper bodily function, and ensuring they remain stable without significant fluctuations.
RegMed XB’s Diabetes Moonshot: A Path Toward a Better Future
The goal of the RegMed XB Diabetes Moonshot is to develop a combination therapy involving insulin-producing cells and a biomaterial implant for type 1 diabetes patients. This initiative is groundbreaking for diabetes care. Since people with type 1 diabetes produce little to no insulin, they must monitor their blood glucose levels multiple times a day. By factoring in lifestyle elements such as meals and physical activity, they calculate and administer the required insulin doses. Unfortunately, mimicking the body’s natural insulin production is impossible, leading to substantial glucose fluctuations.
Prolonged high blood glucose levels significantly increase the risk of severe complications, such as blindness, heart and blood vessel damage, nerve degeneration, and kidney failure. On the other hand, dangerously low glucose levels can result in confusion, drowsiness, or even coma. As a result, managing diabetes often takes a toll on both the physical and mental well-being of patients, affecting their overall quality of life.
Why the New Purification Method is a Game-Changer
Researchers around the globe are exploring ways to develop cells and tissues from stem cells for therapeutic purposes. Under the leadership of Associate Prof. Françoise Carlotti at the Islet lab of the LUMC, the team has successfully developed beta-cell islets from stem cells as a potential treatment for diabetes. However, human cell therapies must meet stringent regulatory standards, particularly concerning the purity of these cells. Despite rigorous protocols, unwanted cell types can sometimes develop during the culture process, which could be harmful to patients. Therefore, achieving the highest possible purity of the beta-cell islets is critical.
The innovative purification method is based on the principle that cells have varying densities due to differences in their structure and contents. For example, pancreatic islets are denser than other cell types because they contain insulin-filled storage vesicles. This density difference allows for the separation of islets from other cells using a centrifuge and density gradient.
How the Purification Process Works
A density gradient is a liquid mixture composed of multiple layers, each with its own density. When cells are introduced, the centrifuge causes the heavier cells and tissues to settle at the bottom, while the lighter ones remain near the top. This results in the separation of the cells into distinct layers based on their density. After centrifugation, each layer can be collected separately. The advantage of this method is that it significantly enhances the purity of stem cell-derived islets, while also reducing the volume required for transplantation. Both make the product safer for use and bring stem cell-based solutions for patients with type 1 Diabetes one step closer.
This method, which has now been successfully applied to purify stem cell islets, holds great promise for the broader field of regenerative medicine. Its potential extends beyond diabetes, as it could be used to purify various types of stem cell-derived cells, thereby contributing to the advancement of numerous stem cell therapies.
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