• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Boosting function and survival of stem cell-derived pancreatic cells by genetic engineering

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
March 3, 2022
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Recent advances in the transplantation of stem cell-derived insulin-producing beta cells (SC-beta cells) to treat type 1 diabetes (T1D) has generated considerable interest and excitement. A major obstacle to the long-term survival and functioning of SC-beta cells is their vulnerability to stress or attacks from the immune system, which can ultimately lead to malfunction or death of the cells. A recent study published in the journal Stem Cell Reports has identified new ways to potentially enhance the SC-beta cell survivability through genetic manipulation of the cells.

Stem Cell-derived Islets Clusters (SC-Islets)

Credit: Credit: Courtesy of The Foundry

Recent advances in the transplantation of stem cell-derived insulin-producing beta cells (SC-beta cells) to treat type 1 diabetes (T1D) has generated considerable interest and excitement. A major obstacle to the long-term survival and functioning of SC-beta cells is their vulnerability to stress or attacks from the immune system, which can ultimately lead to malfunction or death of the cells. A recent study published in the journal Stem Cell Reports has identified new ways to potentially enhance the SC-beta cell survivability through genetic manipulation of the cells.

Glucose (sugar) levels in the blood increase in response to food intake and are regulated by the hormone insulin, which is secreted by a special type of cell in the pancreas, the beta-cell. In response to glucose, beta-cells sense secrete insulin which in turn makes blood glucose levels go down. When beta-cells are destroyed or dysfunctional, blood glucose levels rise beyond normal levels, leading to diabetes. In patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), beta cells are attacked and destroyed by the patient’s immune system. T1D patients depend on daily insulin injections, but it is difficult to regulate glucose levels and diabetics can experience episodes of excessively low or high blood glucose, leading to potential organ damage, shorten lifespan, and in some cases be acutely life threatening.

An alternative to repeated insulin injections is the transplantation of beta cells, obtained from deceased organ donors, or, more recently, derived from stem cells. Following transplantation, SC-beta cell survival and function critically depends on their resistance to the body’s immune response and/or a noxious milieu at the transplantation site. What’s more, stressed beta cells are thought to be even more susceptible to immune cell attack, so that preventing SC-beta cell stress may be critical in the context of T1D. Nayara Leite, Douglas Melton and colleagues from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have looked for ways of increasing SC-beta cell stress resistance and survival. Using genetic tools, the researchers selectively reduced the amounts of four mediators of stress susceptibility and immune cell recognition in SC-beta cells. As a result, the engineered cells were more resistant to stress from inflammatory molecules or high glucose, and less susceptible to killing by immune cells, with an overall increased survival in lab-based experiments.

Future work is needed to address whether genetic modification of SC-beta cells can permanently protect transplanted cells from immune cell attack or other stressors, leading to improved survival and function, without negatively affecting their function or safety profile.



Journal

Stem Cell Reports

DOI

10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.01.018

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Genetic manipulation of stress pathways can protect stem cell-derived islets from apoptosis in vitro

Article Publication Date

3-Mar-2022

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Streamlined Hybrid Capture Enhances Specificity, Eliminates PCR

September 2, 2025

DNA Reveals Diet and Prey of Wolves and Lynx

September 2, 2025

Rice Researchers Pioneer Engineering of Computing Systems Using Living Cells

September 2, 2025

Scientists Reveal Link Between Gut Fungi, Human Genetics, and Disease Susceptibility

September 2, 2025

POPULAR NEWS

  • Needlestick Injury Rates in Nurses and Students in Pakistan

    296 shares
    Share 118 Tweet 74
  • Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    154 shares
    Share 62 Tweet 39
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    143 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    117 shares
    Share 47 Tweet 29

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

COVID-19’s Effect on ART Outcomes: Multicenter Study

CRISPR/Cas9: A New Frontier in Male Fertility

Reevaluating 2022 Guidelines for Preventing Falls in Seniors

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.