Researchers at the Federal Polytechnic School of Zurich (ETH) have used a genetic program so that the stem cells obtained from adipose tissue become almost identical cells to natural beta.
These are found in the pancreas and are the ones in the presence of glucose produce insulin.
This approaches them even more to achieve a personal repair kit for diabetes patients.Achievement has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Scientists, led by Martin Fussenegger, a professor of biotechnology and bioengineering at ETH, have achieved what many specialists thought impossible.The cells were extracted from the adipose tissue of a 50 -year -old person and genetically reprogrammed to turn them into functional beta cells.
“The moment and amounts of the growth factors used to achieve this are very important - explains Fussenegger -.But it is not just about adding the appropriate amounts at the right time since there is an added difficulty: the technique prevents getting many more cells. ”
Despite this, the new process can successfully transform three out of four adipose tissue stem cells into beta cells.It is true that, for now, the amounts of insulin that they secrete are not as important as those of natural beta cells, but for the first time it has been possible to reproduce the entire chain of natural processes, from stem cells to beta cells.
In the future, this new ETH technique could make it possible to implement new functional beta cells in diabetes patients achieved from their own adipose tissue.
Fussenegger is convinced that this new method could also be used to produce other cells.Stem cells extracted from adipose tissue can differentiate in various types of cells.
