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Contact:
Joana Casas
P: 212-479-7560
E: mcasas@jdrf.org
New York, NY, February 21, 2008 -- Researchers in the U.S. have successfully created primitive cells derived from human embryonic stem cells that reversed chemically induced diabetes in mice, the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology reported last night. The finding represents exciting progress to better understand and develop new therapies for type 1 diabetes. JDRF, the world's largest charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, partially funded the development of the human embryonic stem cell lines used in this study.
Scientists from the San Diego, California-based company Novocell reported that primitive cells derived from human embryonic stem cells started generating insulin after they were implanted into mice, after an incubation period of one to three months. Additionally, the cells were shown to produce blood levels of C-peptide comparable to levels seen in mice transplanted with isolated human islets; the cells were also found to protect the mice from hyperglycemia.
According to Julia Greenstein, Beta Cell Replacement Program Director for JDRF, "It demonstrates, in mice, that human embryonic stem cells can be differentiated down the path to eventually becoming a beta cell, under the right conditions. This advance is important because of its potential to possibly accelerate progress in understanding the development of insulin-producing cells, in general, but also for the field of beta cell replacement - one of the five 'cure therapeutic' research areas JDRF has identified as offering the most promise in leading to a cure for type 1 diabetes."
Greenstein also noted that the research is in its early stages, and future research will require that the cells be purified, because a small number of the mice developed tumors.
JDRF funded more than $137 million in diabetes research last year, about $3 million on research utilizing embryonic stem cells and about $1.6 million on adult stem cells.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that strikes children, adolescents, and adults suddenly, in which the immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, a hormone that enables people to convert food into energy. People with type 1 diabetes are dependent on insulin for the rest of their life. But insulin is not a cure, and people with diabetes are at significant risk for a wide range of serious complications, including heart disease, blindness and kidney disease.
Novocell, Inc. is a stem cell engineering company dedicated to creating, delivering and commercializing cell and drug therapies for diabetes and other chronic diseases. JDRF helped fund the two embryonic stem cells lines that were primarily used in the experiments carried out by Novocell through its Industry Discovery and Development Partnership (IDDP) program.
Through the IDDP program, JDRF partners with pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device businesses that seek to develop drugs, treatments, technologies, and other therapeutics leading to a cure, reversal, or prevention of type 1 diabetes and its complications. To date, JDRF has 22 IDDP partners across a range of research areas, committing approximately $25 million in research funding.
About JDRF
JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 research. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children and adults suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.
Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.4 billion to diabetes research, including more than $100 million last year.
For more information, please visit http://www.jdrf.org/
