Npj Regen Med: Scientists may be developing new treatments for diabetes

FEBRUARY 16, 2021 // -- In a recent study published in the international journal npj Regenerative Medicine, scientists from Monash University and others uncovered barriers to cell regeneration in β, and the results may help scientists develop new treatments for diabetes and related diseases such as organ and tissue damage.
Photo Source: CC0 Public Domain The human body does not repair itself well, and the body's liver is the only organ that can be effectively regenerated, and the body's ability to regenerate new cells or tissues has become very limited since birth because genes involved in the body's development are turned off; To occur, DNA methylation is a biological process in which methylated groups are wrote on DNA and can modify the way genes function; this modification effectively silences the expression of progenitor cells (early offspring of stem cells) genes in the body, thereby reducing the pancreas's ability to produce insulin β cells.
using mouse models, the researchers found that two key developmental genes, Ngn3 and Sox11, had reduced levels of DNA methylation, which may have prompted them to repair the dormant state of the cells.
However, by de-methylation, progenitic cells can wake up again, restoring their ability to transform into new insulin-producing β cells, which may hopefully help develop improved treatments for type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
researcher El-Osta said: 'By working together, we have uncovered some very interesting results, and we have found that DNA methylation may be a barrier to the regeneration of form β cells, which may help scientists restore the function of β cells in the pancreas.
Currently, removing damage in the body of diabetics β cell populations consist mainly of complete pancreatic or islet transplants, which, while effective, also face organ donor shortages and side effects associated with immunosuppressive drugs.
In this study, researchers focused on how to replace missing β cells in diabetic patients with multiple methods and cellular resources, but the key to developing the potential for these regeneration methods is to understand how tissue and cellular processes are controlled during development.
, the researchers say, is a new, highly significant study that could help us treat diabetes by using stem cell-like cells to resusctic and transform them into insulin-producing cells.
() Original source: Khurana, I., Al-Hasani, K., Maxwell, S. et al. DNA methylation status correlates with adult β-cell regeneration capacity. npj Regen Med 6, 7 (2021).doi：10.1038/s41536-021-00119-1