In our efforts to cure T1D, JDRF actively supports research aimed at restoring a person’s insulin-producing capability and halting or reversing the body’s misguided immune attack on the pancreas. A cure for T1D remains JDRF’s key priority and in the past month or so, a couple of JDRF cure research studies have reported notable results:

• The scientific journal Diabetes recently reported on a clinical trial using two drugs to reverse the autoimmune attack in newly diagnosed T1D patients.  The trial was led by Dr. Carla Greenbaum, at Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason and sponsored by the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), a clinical trial network funded by JDRF and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).   The study’s researchers administered the combination of two drugs, Proleukin (IL-2) and Rapamune (sirolimus), to see whether they would halt the autoimmune destruction of the remaining beta cells in trial participants. Although the therapy had the intended effect of increasing Treg cells in people, other immune system cells were affected in an unexpected way resulting in an overall negative effect on beta cell function. The study’s findings further indicate the challenges of translating therapies that work in animal models into human successes—they can guide us, but aren’t a perfect predictor of what happens in people. Although this novel approach did not meet its intended goals, the study’s findings will help guide other trials using a combination therapy approach since it did boost Treg cells, an approach still expected to help rebalance the immune system.
• The scientific journal PLoS One published results of a JDRF-supported islet transplantation study that employed a new approach to encapsulation.  To promote the survival of transplanted insulin-producing cells, researchers created pancreatic tissue, surrounded by a three-dimensional network of blood vessels. The study, conducted in mice, was led by Professor Shulamit Levenberg of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.   According to the published report, the engineered tissue has compelling benefits vs. traditional pancreatic tissue and may lead to improved islet replacement techniques for people with T1D:

• • The transplanted insulin-producing cells survive longer in the engineered tissue, and produce more insulin and other essential hormones.
  • When researchers transplanted the tissue into diabetic mice, the cells began functioning well enough to lower blood sugar levels in the mice.
  • The 3-D model demonstrated in the study will have important clinical implications if the same results can be replicated with human cells.
  • The model system also provides a good platform to study the details and mechanisms that underlie successful transplantation and implanting of encapsulated cells.

To learn more about JDRF’s research strategy and understand how these and other studies are helping us make progress toward our goal of curing T1D, please visit JDRF’s website; subscribe to our online publication Countdown; and visit our newsroom, all of which are updated with new stories frequently.  For other recent updates on cure-related research, please see the following recent JDRF News Blog entries:

• JDRF collaborates to fill gaps in encapsulation research for type 1 diabetes
• New Industry Partnership Paves the Way for Drug Development for Beta Cell Regeneration
• Novel technology may help new beta cells survive