Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Human spermatogonial stem cells become insulin-secreting pancreatic cells in lab

By R&D Editors | December 12, 2010

Human spermatogonial stem cells become insulin-secreting pancreatic cells in lab

Insulin-secreting pancreatic islet cells have been generated from human spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) directly isolated from human testicular tissue, researchers reported today at the American Association of Cell Biology 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

When grafted into diabetic mice that lacked a transplant-rejecting immune system, the bioengineered cells functioned much like somatic β-islet cells, the Georgetown University (GU) Medical Center researchers said.

By decreasing the animals’ blood glucose levels, the human-derived islet cells demonstrated their potential to counter diabetic hyperglycemia in humans, added G. Ian Gallicano, Ph.D., who heads the GU research team.

Gallicano said that these results represent the first step of a transplant strategy to deliver β-islet cells that would not be rejected by the patient with type 1 diabetes because the stem cells would be obtained from the patient’s own SSCs, the earliest precursors of male gamete sperm cells.

This transplant strategy would avoid the host-versus-graft issues that have plagued other transplant treatments for type 1 diabetes, Gallicano explained, because the SSCs would be obtained from male patients, modified in the laboratory to secrete insulin, and transplanted back to the donors.

Although surgeons currently transplant islet tissue from deceased donors into female and male patients with type 1 diabetes, this therapy is hampered by a woeful shortage of suitable donations and by complications resulting from host-versus-graft disease.

Gallicano said that obtaining beta-islet-like cells from the male patient’s SSCs could solve the problem of immune rejection in males with type 1 diabetes, since the “treatment based on this research would be ‘autologous,’ that is, the cells come from the patient and would be recognized as ‘self.'”

The fundamental approach of transforming male gametes into pluripotent stem cells might also be applicable to the female counterpart, oocytes, he added.

The β-islet-like cells were engineered from germ-derived pluripotent stem (gPS) cells produced from the SSCs. The engineered β-islet cells secreted insulin and exhibited many of the markers characteristic of normal islet cells including C-peptide (pro-insulin) production and the expression of PDX1, a transcription factor involved in pancreatic development.

SOURCE

Related Articles Read More >

Satellite data sheds light on wetland health in cloud-covered regions
Alice & Bob outlines roadmap to 100 logical qubits by 2030
Idemitsu expands partnership with Enthought to accelerate battery material innovation
top 25 AI patent winners of 2024
From NVIDIA to SAP: How 25 global AI patent leaders fared in 2024
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE