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Cell Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes: Current and Future Strategies

  • Immunology, Transplantation, and Regenerative Medicine (L Piemonti and V Sordi, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of the Review

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is defined by an autoimmune destruction of insulin producing β-cells located in the endocrine part of the pancreas, the islets of Langerhans. As exogenous insulin administration fails at preventing severe complications associated with this disease, cell replacement therapies are being considered as a means to treat T1D. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the challenges associated with current strategies and discuss the potential of stem cell therapy for the treatment of T1D.

Recent Findings

The most prominent therapy offered to T1D patients is exogenous insulin administration which, despite formulations improvement, remains a suboptimal treatment, due to the frequency of injections and the issues associated with precise dosing. As immunotherapy approaches have remained unsuccessful, the only cure for T1D is transplantation of donor-derived pancreas or islets. However, donor scarcity, graft loss, and immune response to the foreign tissue are issues challenging this approach and limiting the number of patients who can benefit from such treatments.

Summary

In this review, we discuss the causes of T1D and the shortcomings of the current treatments. Furthermore, we summarize the cutting edge research that aims to tackle the current challenges in reaching a quality-controlled product with long-term effects, with a focus on regenerative medicine approaches using human pluripotent stem cells.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funding from the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine and the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation, the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Canada First Research Excellence Funds and JDRF to M.C.N. We would like to thank Emily McGaugh and Farida Sarangi for discussion and critical reading of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Toronto, Canada

    Yasaman Aghazadeh & Maria Cristina Nostro

  2. University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1L7, Canada

    Yasaman Aghazadeh & Maria Cristina Nostro

  3. Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8, Canada

    Maria Cristina Nostro

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  1. Yasaman Aghazadeh
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Correspondence to Maria Cristina Nostro.

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Yasaman Aghazadeh declares no conflict of interest. Maria Cristina Nostro has a patent PCT/CA2013/000432 licensed to Sernova.

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Aghazadeh, Y., Nostro, M.C. Cell Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes: Current and Future Strategies. Curr Diab Rep 17, 37 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-017-0863-6

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