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A new therapy could make type 1 diabetes curable. It uses lab-grown insulin-producing stem cells and engineered immune cells for protection, so patients may avoid risky immunosuppressive drugs.
TheDigger Intelligence Unit
Dr Leonardo Ferreira at the Medical University of South Carolina leads a $1 million project funded by Breakthrough T1D. His team aims to restore insulin-producing beta cells. They also work to keep these cells safe from the body’s immune system.
The therapy has two main parts. First, it uses beta cells derived from stem cells to replace those lost to the disease.
Engineered regulatory T cells, which are immune cells that help prevent immune attacks, are equipped with special chimeric antigen receptors or CARs.
These CARs work like GPS trackers, directing the T cells to the transplanted beta cells to protect them and prevent immune rejection.
Together, these cells work as a team. The beta cells make insulin, and the Tregs help protect them so they can survive. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease.
The body destroys its own beta cells, making patients dependent on insulin. About 1.5 million Americans have T1D. They face risks like nerve damage and blindness.
Current islet cell transplants are limited by donor shortage. They also require immunosuppressive drugs.
Lab-grown cells and engineered Tregs could address both issues. They provide a scalable, safer alternative.
Meet the Team BehFerreira partners with Holger Russ of the University of Florida. Russ is an expert in stem cells. Michael Brehm of the University of Massachusetts Medical School also joins the team. He is known for developing humanised mouse models that replicate human immune responses.
Their goal is a therapy that can be manufactured, stored, and given to patients at any disease stage. Early studies in mice show protective effects lasting up to a month.
The next steps are to extend durability and improve delivery. The team also plans to test if repeated doses provide long-term protection.
If successful, the therapy could free patients from daily insulin injections. It could signal a turning point in regenerative medicine. regenerative medicine.
As Ferreira says, “Instead of treating symptoms, we can actually replace the missing cells. This could change how medicine is done.”
