Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
What an incredible transformation. A protein used to help bones mend can also force pancreatic cells into producing insulin. The discovery could help people with type 1 diabetes produce their own insulin without having to take daily injections.
In type 1 diabetes, beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin – the hormone that keeps our blood glucose levels at a safe concentration – are destroyed by the immune system. As a result, people with the disease have to inject themselves daily with insulin.
Now, researchers have discovered that non-beta cells in the pancreas can be transformed into insulin-producing cells, merely by exposing them to a growth factor called BMP-7.
“We are very encouraged by the simplicity of our finding,” says Juan Domínguez-Bendala, director of stem cell development at the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami, Florida.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...ells-made-to-produce-insulin-by-bone-protein/
In type 1 diabetes, beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin – the hormone that keeps our blood glucose levels at a safe concentration – are destroyed by the immune system. As a result, people with the disease have to inject themselves daily with insulin.
Now, researchers have discovered that non-beta cells in the pancreas can be transformed into insulin-producing cells, merely by exposing them to a growth factor called BMP-7.
“We are very encouraged by the simplicity of our finding,” says Juan Domínguez-Bendala, director of stem cell development at the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami, Florida.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...ells-made-to-produce-insulin-by-bone-protein/