Gene and Cell Therapy for Diabetes and Hypertensive Heart Disease - Yasuhiro Ikeda

Pancreatic Differentiation of Patient-specific iPS Cells

Dr. Ikeda's lab has recently demonstrated successful differentiation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into glucose-responsive, insulin-producing cells in vitro.¹ For a novel autologous iPS-mediated cell therapy for diabetes, there is a need to generate iPS cells from people with diabetes and differentiate derived cells into insulin-producing islet-like cells.

However, the feasibility of iPS generation from people with diabetes — or the pancreatic differentiation capability of derived iPS cells — remains elusive. The lab has recruited people with and without diabetes for iPS derivation and is currently analyzing their differentiation propensities and therapeutic effects in diabetic mouse models.

References

1. Thatava T, et al. Indolactam V/GLP-1-mediated differentiation of human iPS cells into glucose-responsive insulin-secreting progeny. Gene Therapy. 2011;18:283.