Stem Cells and Diabetes
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Transcript Stem Cells and Diabetes
Stem Cells and Diabetes
The Present
Background
Diabetes affects more people and causes
more deaths each year than breast
cancer and AIDS combined.
The American Diabetes Association
estimates that 16 million people, 5.9% of
the U.S. population, currently has some
type of diabetes.
What is diabetes?
group of diseases
abnormally high levels of glucose in the
blood
possible complications include blindness,
stroke, kidney failure, heart disease, poor
circulation, and amputation
Type 1 Diabetes
juvenile-onset
typically affects children and young adults
immune system attacks and destroys
beta cells (β cells) in the islets of
Langerhans of the pancreas that normally
produce insulin
glucose does not enter the cells and
therefore accumulates in the blood
Type 2 Diabetes
adult-onset diabetes
typically affects older, sedentary, and
overweight individuals with a family
history of diabetes
body cannot use insulin effectively
due to insulin resistance, glucose
accumulates in the blood
Role of Pancreas in Diabetes
What is insulin?
peptide hormone
synthesized within the β cells of the islets of
Langerhans located in the pancreas
affects metabolism and other body functions
causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat
tissue to take up glucose from the
bloodstream
Role of Pancreas in Diabetes
Question:
In type I diabetics, is it possible to get
cells to produce insulin?
two possible sources of cells
• existing cells
• adult stem cells
What are adult stem cells?
They are:
undifferentiated cells that occur in
differentiated tissue
able to make identical copies of
themselves
able to yield specialized cell types of the
tissue from which they originated
do not replicate indefinitely in culture
Researchers are Investigating:
Is it possible to activate the differentiation
of adult stem cells present in the
pancreas in order to produce needed
insulin in type I diabetics?
What advantage/disadvantage would this
have over organ/islet transplantation or
insulin injection?
Researchers Would Need to Know:
Are there adult stem cells present in the
pancreas that differentiate into beta cells?
Are adult pancreatic beta cells formed by
self-duplication, stem cell differentiation,
or a combination of the two processes?
Mouse-Model Study
A pulse-chase experiment performed
by Professor Douglas Melton and his
team provides important information
about how beta cells are replaced.
Keep in mind that cells are
replaced by:
Adult stem cells
Mitotic division of existing cells
Combination of the two