A significant pre-clinical study suggests that stem cells derived from the human stomach have the ability to be transformed into insulin-secreting cells, potentially providing a promising treatment for diabetes.
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City demonstrated that they could reprogram stomach stem cells into cells resembling pancreatic beta cells, which produce insulin in response to elevated blood sugar levels.
Transplanting these reprogrammed cells into diabetic mice successfully reversed disease symptoms. The study’s senior author, Dr. Joe Zhou, emphasized that this research lays the groundwork for developing a patient-specific treatment for type 1 and severe type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Zhou’s team had previously discovered that gastric stem cells are receptive to this reprogramming technique. Although further optimization is needed before clinical application, the researchers aim to develop a method that allows easy harvesting of gastric stem cells from patients, followed by the transplantation of insulin-secreting organoids to regulate blood sugar levels without the need for additional medication.
