Two really cool announcements!!!

Hopes of single jab cure for diabetics
Gene may convert liver cells
JEAN WEST

PIONEERING research yesterday delivered the hope of a cure for millions of diabetes sufferers who often have to rely on painful regular injections to keep the condition in check.

Scientists at the University of Bath have developed a gene that converts liver cells into pancreatic cells with a single injection, although they admit it may be many years before the therapy becomes medical reality.

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas contains defective cells that do not produce enough of the vital hormone insulin, necessary for the control of blood sugar. A shortage of insulin means the cells do not absorb enough glucose for fuel and excessive amounts remain circulating in the blood stream.

Type I diabetics, who usually develop a severe form of the disease when they are young, lack certain kinds of pancreatic cells.

It was once thought impossible to duplicate pancreatic cells. However, researchers now hope that in future, an injection into the liver, using a procedure called transdifferentiation, could transform some cells into a replacement pancreas and effect a cure.

While the cells in the liver have a unique function, primarily for detoxifying the body, they develop from very similar stem cells as pancreatic cells in the very young foetus during pregnancy.

Scientists injected a superactive form of a gene understood to be vital for pancreatic cell formation into human liver cells and those of frog tadpoles under laboratory conditions.

The tadpole liver cells began to behave in the same way as pancreatic cells, some even producing insulin.

At the moment, treatment for the condition, which can cause long-term complications including sight and circulation problems, ranges from dietary changes and increased exercise to insulin injections.

The condition can shorten life expectancy and is a major cause of heart disease, stroke and kidney failure.

The ground-breaking single-injection alternative could overcome these complications and, according to the findings published in yesterday's Current Biology magazine, should not affect the liver's normal functions.

The team, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council, has developed a "super-active" version of the gene Pdx1 which, when added to human and tadpole liver cells, acts like a switch, converting them into insulin-producing pancreatic cells.

Jonathan Slack, leading the team, said the breakthrough treatment could be available within 10 years if research continued as planned.

He said: "The result from these experiments has been very encouraging. This is the first step in the development of what could ultimately provide a cure for people suffering from diabetes. But there is a lot more work to do."

Alan McGinley, of Diabetes UK Scotland, welcomed the findings but said early detection should remain the key. He said: "We are not a healthy nation and diabetes is linked to an extent to lifestyle. We need to keep our eye on the ball."

- Jan 22nd

AND

Hope for MS treatment


Stem cells can differentiate into many types of cell

Scientists have successfully replaced brain cells damaged by multiple sclerosis (MS), raising hopes of an effective new treatment for the disease.
At present, the technique has only been tested in mice, but it is hoped the same principle can eventually be applied to humans.

The fact that we are able to use adult stem cells in this way is extremely important in the development of effective therapies


Professor Bruce Brew

A team from St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney replaced the damaged brain cells with immature 'stem' cells taken from the bone marrow of both mice and humans.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and progressive illness that affects the body's nerves and can render a person disabled.

Myelin coating

The disease progresses as a patient loses a type of nerve cell known as an oligodendrocyte, which helps electrical currents to travel around the nervous system by producing the protective myelin sheath that coats the nerves.

As more and more cells are lost, the myelin sheath is damaged, resulting in faulty transmission of nervous signals.

The two-year study used 25 mice to model the effects of multiple sclerosis. Adult stem cells from mice and humans were injected into the mice, five, 10 and 20 days after being isolated from bone marrow.

Signs of oligodendrocyte growth were found in between half and three-quarters of the experiments.

The next step is to determine whether the newly formed brain cells were functional and capable of producing myelin.

Effective therapies

Professor Bruce Brew, St Vincent's director of neurology and neurosciences, said: "While we are still some years away from a human application, the fact that we are able to use adult stem cells in this way is extremely important in the development of effective therapies against a variety of brain diseases."

He said there was no guarantee that the treatment could completely reverse symptoms of MS.

But he said there was a "good likelihood" that it could have some positive impact.

Professor Brew said doctors may eventally be able to isolate stem cells from a patient's bone marrow, manipulate them and reinject them to hone in on the damaged area for repairs.

However, the research is based on the principle that stem cells will develop in response to signals generated by brain disease.

Professor Brew said the longer a person suffered from a brain disease, the weaker the signals became and the less likely that the stem cells would differentiate into the required cell.

Positive response

Mike O'Donovan, chief executive of the UK Multiple Sclerosis Society, said: "The potential for using adult stem cells in the treatment of MS could be very significant.

"These early results certainly appear encouraging and we look forward to studying them in greater detail."

Christine Jones, chief executive of the UK MS Trust, said: "Of course these are very early findings and results demonstrated in mice with the experimental equivalent of MS are not necessarily replicated in people with MS.

"However, stem cell research is very exciting in terms of future therapies for MS though obviously this study, as the researcher points out, is years away from application."

[WillowIX]

This isn´t exactly new is it? The knowledge of the same stem cells differentiating into hepatocytes and pancreatic beta isles (as well as many other types) isn´t exactly new. Gene therapy is an astounding discovery. THe only problem at the moment is that it doesn´t seem to work. Only a fraction of the injected genes will be taken up by cells. It would be interesting to read the medical publication of this research though. I also like this part

Type I diabetics, who usually develop a severe form of the disease when they are young, lack certain kinds of pancreatic cells.

ROTFL! What an understatement. *snicker* No comments on the MS issue. Don´t know much about it, just that it is a chronic inflammation and myelin degradation. Almost like every other autoimmune disease.

[ 01-22-2003, 03:52 PM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

[Ar-Cunin]

Originally posted by WillowIX: This isn´t exactly new is it?

Maybe not - but we can still hope for the best [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Lavindathar]

No I agree, good news all around.

Well Willow not being a Doc type person It was news to me, and was posted as current news/new announcements ....*sigh* sounded so hopeful before you burst the bubble