Engineered cell lines for insulin replacement in diabetes: current status and future prospects (original) (raw)

Insulin-secreting cells derived from stem cells: Clinical perspectives, hypes and hopes

Transplant Immunology, 2005

Diabetes is a degenerative disease that results from the selective destruction of pancreatic h-cells. These cells are responsible for insulin production and secretion in response to increases in circulating concentrations of nutrients, such as glucose, fatty acids and amino acids. This degenerative disease can be treated by the transplantation of differentiated islets obtained from cadaveric donors, according to a new surgical intervention developed as Edmonton protocol. Compared to the classical double transplant kidney -pancreas, this new protocol presents several advantages, concerning to the nature of the implant, immunosuppressive drug regime and the surgical procedure itself. However, the main problem to face in any islet transplantation program is the scarcity of donor pancreases and the low yield of islets isolated (very often around 50%) from each pancreas. Nevertheless, transplanted patients presented no adverse effects and no progression of diabetic complications. In the search of new cell sources for replacement trials, stem cells from embryonic and adult origins represent a key alternative. In order to become a realistic clinical issue transplantation of insulin-producing cells derived from stem cells, it needs to overcome multiple experimental obstacles. The first one is to develop a protocol that may allow obtaining a pure population of functional insulin-secreting cells as close as possible to the pancreatic h-cell. The second problem should concern to the transplantation itself, considering issues related to immune rejection, tumour formation, site for implant, implant survival, and biosafety mechanisms. Although transplantation of bioengineered cells is still far in time, experience accumulated in islet transplantation protocols and in experiments with appropriate animal models will give more likely the clues to address this question in the future. D Contents 0966-3274/$ -see front matter D

Bioengineered Islet Cell Transplantation

Current Transplantation Reports, 2021

Purpose of Review β cell replacement via whole pancreas or islet transplantation has greatly evolved for the cure of type 1 diabetes. Both these strategies are however still affected by several limitations. Pancreas bioengineering holds the potential to overcome these hurdles aiming to repair and regenerate β cell compartment. In this review, we detail the state-of-the-art and recent progress in the bioengineering field applied to diabetes research. Recent Findings The primary target of pancreatic bioengineering is to manufacture a construct supporting insulin activity in vivo. Scaffold-base technique, 3D bioprinting, macro-devices, insulin-secreting organoids, and pancreas-on-chip represent the most promising technologies for pancreatic bioengineering. Summary There are several factors affecting the clinical application of these technologies, and studies reported so far are encouraging but need to be optimized. Nevertheless pancreas bioengineering is evolving very quickly and its c...

Engineering of a Glucose-Responsive Surrogate Cell for Insulin Replacement Therapy of Experimental Insulin-Dependent Diabetes

Human Gene Therapy, 2000

Glucose responsiveness in the millimolar concentration range is a crucial requirement of a surrogate pancreatic beta cell for insulin replacement therapy of insulin-dependent diabetes. Novel insulin-secreting GK cell clones with millimolar glucose responsiveness were generated from an early-passage glucose-unresponsive RINm5F cell line. This line expressed constitutively both the K AT P channel and the GLUT2 glucose transporter; but it had a relative lack of glucokinase. Through overexpression of glucokinase , however, it was possible to generate glucose-responsive clones with a glucokinase-to-hexokina se ratio comparable to that of a normal pancreatic beta cell. This aim, on the other hand, was not achieved through overexpression of the GLUT2 glucose transporter. Raising the expression level of this glucose transporter into the range of rat liver, without correcting the glucokinase-to-hexokina se enzyme ratio, did not render the cells glucose responsive. These glucokinase-overexpressing RINm5F cells also stably maintained their molecular and insulin secretory characteristics in vivo. After implantation into streptozotocin diabetic immunodeficient rats, glucokinase-overexpressing cells retained their insulin responsiveness to physiologica l glucose stimulation under in vivo conditions. These cells represent a notable step toward the future bioengineering of a surrogate beta cell for insulin replacement therapy in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Bioengineering of a functional sheet of islet cells for the treatment of diabetes mellitus

Biomaterials, 2009

The present study was designed to establish a novel tissue engineering approach for diabetes mellitus (DM) by fabricating a tissue sheet composed of pancreatic islet cells for in vivo transplantation. Pancreatic islet cell suspensions were obtained from Lewis rats, and plated onto temperature-responsive culture dishes coated with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. After the cells reached confluency, islet cells cultured on laminin-5 coated dishes were successfully harvested as a uniformly spread tissue sheet by lowering the culture temperature to 20 C for 20 min. The functional activity of the islet cell sheets was confirmed by histological examination and Insulin secretion assay prior to in vivo transplantation. Histological examination revealed that the harvested islet cell sheet was comprised of insulin-(76%) and glucagon-(19%) positive cells, respectively. In vivo functionality of the islet cell sheet was maintained even 7 days after transplantation into the subcutaneous space of Lewis rats. The present study describes an approach to generate a functional sheet of pancreatic islet cells on laminin-5 coated temperatureresponsive dishes, which can be subsequently transplanted in vivo. This study serves as the foundation for the creation of a novel cell-based therapy for DM to provide patients an alternative method.

Novel therapy for insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: infusion of in vitro-generated insulin-secreting cells

Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 2013

Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is a metabolic disease usually resulting from autoimmunemediated b-cell destruction requiring lifetime exogenous insulin replacement. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) hold promising therapy. We present our experience of treating IDDM with co-infusion of in vitro autologous adipose tissue-derived MSC-differentiated insulin-secreting cells (ISC) with hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). This was an Institutional Review Board approved prospective non-randomized open-labeled clinical trial after informed consent from ten patients. ISC were differentiated from autologous adipose tissue-derived MSC and were infused with bone marrow-derived HSC in portal, thymic circulation by minilaparotomy and in subcutaneous circulation. Patients were monitored for blood sugar levels, serum C-peptide levels, glycosylated hemoglobin (Hb1Ac) and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibodies. Insulin administration was made on sliding scale with an objective of maintaining FBS \ 150 mg/dL and PPBS around 200 mg/dL. Mean 3.34 mL cell inoculums with 5.25 9 10 4 cells/lL were infused. No untoward effects were observed. Over a mean follow-up of 31.71 months, mean serum C-peptide of 0.22 ng/mL before infusion had sustained rise of 0.92 ng/ mL with decreased exogenous insulin requirement from 63.9 international units (IU)/day to 38.6 IU/day. Improvement in mean Hb1Ac was observed from 10.99 to 6.72 %. Mean GAD antibodies were positive in all patients with mean of 331.10 IU/mL, which decreased to mean of 123 IU/mL. Co-infusion of autologous ISC with HSC represents a viable novel therapeutic option for IDDM. Keywords Insulin-secreting cells Á Adipose tissue Á Mesenchymal stem cells Á Hematopoietic stem cells Á Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Re-engineering islet cell transplantation

Pharmacological research : the official journal of the Italian Pharmacological Society, 2015

We are living exciting times in the field of beta cell replacement therapies for the treatment of diabetes. While steady progress has been recorded thus far in clinical islet transplantation, novel approaches are needed to make cell-based therapies more reproducible and leading to long-lasting success. The multiple facets of diabetes impose the need for a transdisciplinary approach to attain this goal, by targeting immunity, promoting engraftment and sustained functional potency. We discuss herein the emerging technologies applied to beta cell replacement therapies.

Glucose-regulated insulin production from genetically engineered human non-beta cells

Life Sciences, 2007

In this report we describe development and characterization of four human cell lines that are able to secrete insulin and C-peptide in response to higher concentrations of glucose. These cell lines have been developed by stably and constitutively expressing human proinsulin with a furincleavable site, whereas expression of furin is regulated by glucose concentration. These cell lines have been cloned and, therefore, the transgene in each cell is located in an identical location of the genome leading to a uniform expression. Cloning has also allowed us to identify cell lines with more desirable properties such as higher basal insulin secretion and/or better glucose responsiveness. We have further shown that the insulin produced by these cells is biologically active and induces normoglycemia when injected in diabetic animals. Our objective in initiating these studies was to identify a cell line that could serve as a surrogate beta cell line for therapeutic intervention in type I diabetic patients.

ENGINEERING VERO CELLS TO SECRETE HUMAN INSULIN

In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Animal, 2002

Cell therapy may have the potential for the treatment of Type I diabetes. To date, cells suitable for this purpose have not been developed. This study investigates the feasibility of modifying Vero, a cell line that may be considered safe to implant into humans, for this purpose. Stable Vero transfectants containing full-length human preproinsulin complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) were generated using a liposomal transfection reagent. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, immunocytochemistry, Western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to assess the resulting cells. Proinsulin was expressed but was not processed to insulin by these cells. Proinsulin cDNA was genetically modified, resulting in a form that is furin sensitive. The resulting stably transfected Vero clones constitutively release approximately 34%/h (32.68 _+ 2.21 to 35.62 _+ 3.14%) of the product formed, approximately 62% (59.99 -+ 6.45 to 64.64 -+ 4.57%) of which is mature insulin. These Vero transfectants did not exhibit glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. As GLUT2 and glucokinase (GCK) are not constitutively expressed by these cells, human GLUT2 cDNA and GCK cDNA were cotransfected with furin-sensitive preproinsulin cDNA into Vero cells. Insulin and GCK proteins were detected in the cytoplasmic region of the resulting cells, whereas GLUT2 was predominantly expressed in the nucleus. Coexpression of GLUT2 and GCK did not result in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. The results from this study demonstrate the feasibility of engineering a relatively "safe" nonbeta cell line to produce human insulin. Coexpression of GLUT2 and GCK, at the levels achieved here, is not adequate enough to induce glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in such cells; the subcellular location of transfected components may be relevant.

Intrasplenic Transplantation of Encapsulated Genetically Engineered Mouse Insulinoma Cells Reverses Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes in Rats

Cell Transplantation, 2005

Pancreatic islet transplantation is limited by shortage of donor organs. Although β-cell lines could be used, their secretion of insulin is characteristically glucose independent and immunoisolation is required. Here we show that intrasplenic transplantation of encapsulated glucose-responsive mouse insulinoma cells reversed streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes in rats. MIN-6 cells derived from a transgenic mouse expressing SV 40 large T antigen in pancreatic β-cells were transfected with minigene encoding for human glucagon-like-peptide-1 under the control of rat insulin promoter. The cells were encapsulated in alginate/poly-L-lysine and used for cell transplantation in STZ-diabetic rats. Rats with nonfasting blood glucose (n-FBG) greater than 350 mg/dl were used. In group I rats (n = 6) 20 million encapsulated cells were injected into the spleen. Group II rats (n = 6) received empty capsules. n-FBG was measured biweekly. After 4 and 8 weeks, an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance te...