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SINGAPORE: Pure insulin-producing cells, similar to those found in the human pancreas, have been developed in the lab by a team of Singapore researchers working with mouse embryonic stem cells.
The breakthrough, which will be key in treating diabetes, was achieved by Dr Lim Sai Kiang from the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) and Dr Li Guodong from the National University Medical Institutes, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at National University of Singapore.
The researchers were able to develop an unlimited number of pure insulin-producing cells, which when transplanted into diabetic mice caused the high blood glucose levels of the animals to drop.
The experiments also showed that when the transplanted cells were later removed from the diabetic mice, the blood glucose remained normal as well as the insulin-production and glucose-sensing capacity in the mice.
Another discovery was that none of the diabetic mice involved in the transplants developed teratoma, a type of tumour which usually occurs with the use embryonic stem cells and complicates treatment.
The research provides proof that the method of treatment could be used for diabetic people who need pure insulin-producing cells.
Professor Gordon Weir, Director of the Clinical Islet Transplantation Program at Harvard Medical School, has described the work by the researchers as "impressive".
"We need something to put into diabetic patients to treat their condition, and these findings tell us interesting things about the development of beta cells," said Professor Weir, who also holds appointments at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Joslin Diabetes Centre.
Speaking of his work, Dr Lim said that what is also significant is the chance for further studies in the treatment for diabetes as the researchers can isolate and then multiply insulin-producing cells from different embryonic stem cells for an unlimited supply of pure insulin-producing cells which they can study.
Dr Li added, "Besides providing a tool to facilitate basic research in test tubes and animals, these insulin-producing cells may be also used to replace the isolated native pancreatic cells that are hard to obtain in a large amount, for pharmacological tests."
The work of Dr Lim and Dr Li, which has been published in two separate papers, has been recognised as one of the "Novel and Newsworthy Top Ten" in Cell Biology at the an American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB).
- CNA/sf
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