Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden published a peer-reviewed study in Stem Cell Reports detailing an improved method to create insulin-producing cells from human stem cells.
Key findings
- More reliable production: The new method consistently generates high-quality, mature insulin-producing cells from multiple human stem cell lines, addressing past issues where methods produced mixed, immature cell populations.
- Better function in lab tests: In vitro, the cells secreted insulin and showed strong glucose responsiveness.
- Reversed diabetes in mice: When transplanted into the anterior chamber of the eye of diabetic mice, the cells gradually matured and restored blood sugar regulation for several months.
Why it matters
- Patient-specific potential: Works across different stem cell lines, which could enable personalized cell therapies with reduced immune rejection, per lead authors Per-Olof Berggren and Siqin Wu.
- Solves prior barriers: By refining culture steps and letting cells form 3D clusters themselves, the process eliminates many unwanted cell types and improves glucose responsiveness — two major hurdles in past trials, according to Fredrik Lanner.
- Clinical next steps: The team aims to move toward clinical translation for treating type 1 diabetes.
Context & notes
- Type 1 diabetes results from immune destruction of pancreatic insulin-producing cells, leaving patients unable to regulate blood sugar.
- The eye chamber transplant technique allows minimally invasive monitoring of cell development over time.
- Funded by the Swedish Research Council, Novo Nordisk Foundation, ERC, and others. Some researchers report industry links, including patents and employment at Spiber Technologies AB and Biocrine AB. Karolinska Institutet