Diabetes Cure Indicated in Mice

This may be big. After all, it is a matter of stem cell choice when it comes to deciding what cells are generated. Just successfully regrowing new pancreatic tissue in a lymph node is a revolution in therapeutic care. That it has worked so well from the get go in mouse models bodes ell for human trials. This is a curative protocol for all replacing all damaged tissue that has to be dealt with and it can use the patients own tissue avoiding any possibility of rejection.

We will also figure out how to sustain the process right up to a fully generated new organ. What we have right now is the understanding that you merely start with one lymph node in the first place. This is really wonderful news, particularly for all diabetics. My guess is that this can be perfected and available for application inside three years. It is a real cure that will stand up and possibly negate the need for any further intervention.

In the meantime we can pick a tissue and produce an appropriate mass through the lymph node chosen. Nothing like this has existed and the potential is just been explored. We likely will be able to provide the scaffold for replacement parts and then simply grow them out elsewhere on the body before repair is attempted.

Liver Cells, Insulin-Producing Cells, Thymus Tissue Can Be Grown in Lymph Nodes

OCTOBER 03, 2012

http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/10/liver-cells-insulin-producing-cells.html

Lymph nodes can provide a suitable home for a variety of cells and tissues from other organs, suggesting that a cell-based alternative to whole organ transplantation might one day be feasible, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and its McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. In a report recently published online in Nature Biotechnology, the research team showed for the first time that liver cells, thymus tissue and insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells, in an animal model, can thrive in lymph nodes despite being displaced from their natural sites.

Hepatitis virus infection, alcoholic cirrhosis and other diseases can cause so much damage that liver transplantation is the only way to save the patient, noted senior investigator Eric Lagasse, Pharm. D., Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Pathology, Pitt School of Medicine. Children with DiGeorge syndrome lack functional thymus glands to produce essential immune cells, and diabetes can be cured with a pancreas transplant.

“However, the scarcity of donor organs means many people will not survive the wait for transplantation,” said Dr. Lagasse, whose lab is at the McGowan Institute. “Cell therapies are being explored, but introducing cells into tissue already ravaged by disease decreases the likelihood of successful engraftment and restoration of function.”

In the study, his team tested the possibility of using lymph nodes, which are abundant throughout the body and have a rich blood supply, as a new home for cells from other organs in what is called an “ectopic” transplant.

They injected healthy liver cells from a genetically-identical donor animal into lymph nodes of mice at various locations. The result was an enlarged, liver-like node that functioned akin to the liver; in fact, a single hepatized lymph node rescued mice that were in danger of dying from a lethal metabolic liver disease. Likewise, thymus tissue transplanted into the lymph node of mice that lacked the organ generated functional immune systems, and pancreatic islet cell transplants restored normal blood sugar control in diabetic animals.[ it actually worked and it appears that it also worked well - arclein]

“Our goal is not necessarily to replace the entire liver, for example, but to provide sufficient cell mass to stabilize liver function and sustain the patient’s life,” Dr. Lagasse said. “That could buy time until a donor organ can be transplanted. Perhaps, in some cases, ectopic cell transplantation in the lymph node might allow the diseased organ to recover.”

ABSTRACT - Cell-based therapy has been viewed as a promising alternative to organ transplantation, but cell transplantation aimed at organ repair is not always possible. Here we show that the mouse lymph node can support the engraftment and growth of healthy cells from multiple tissues. Direct injection of hepatocytes into a single mouse lymph node generated enough ectopic liver mass to rescue the survival of mice with lethal metabolic disease. Furthermore, thymuses transplanted into single lymph nodes of athymic nude mice generated functional immune systems that were capable of rejecting allogeneic and xenogeneic grafts. Additionally, pancreatic islets injected into the lymph nodes of diabetic mice restored normal glucose control. Collectively, these results suggest the practical approach of targeting lymph nodes to restore, maintain or improve tissue and organ functions.