Generation Of Insulin-Producing Cells From Adult Stem Cells Explored By JDRF And Plureon Partnership

Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 05 Feb 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world's largest charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, has announced that it is partnering with Plureon Corporation, a biotechnology company based in Winston-Salem, N.C. that focuses on developing therapeutic applications of stem cells.

Through its Industry Discovery and Development Partnership Program, JDRF is providing $500,000 over two years of research funding aimed at developing an insulin-producing beta cell therapy product for the treatment of type 1 diabetes.

"Plureon is exploring exciting alternatives to treat or cure diabetes by developing cell therapies to replace beta cells using adult stem cells as a source," said Julia Greenstein, Therapeutic Program Director for Replacement at JDRF. "The results from this study may provide a new strategy to restore function of insulin-producing cells, creating a significant, positive clinical impact on patients with diabetes."

"This award enables us to extend our research in the field of diabetes," said Hal Eason, founder and CEO of Plureon. "By leveraging our existing technology and know-how across additional sources of stem cells, we hope to open new pathways towards a cure. We are grateful for JDRF's partnership in this pursuit."

The project plans to use Plureon's technology platform to isolate adult stem cells from a type 1 diabetes patient and re-program them to generate fully functional pancreatic beta-cells. The objective is to return the re-programmed insulin-producing cells back into the patient in an autologous manner, i.e., without the need for immunosuppressive agents normally required for organ transplantation - in this manner, the patient's own transplanted cells will be capable of glucose-dependent insulin secretion and the restoration of normal blood sugar levels.

Plureon is the latest company to work with JDRF through its innovative Industry Discovery and Development Partnership program. Through the program, JDRF partners with pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device businesses that seek to develop drugs, treatments, technologies, and other therapeutics leading to a cure, reversal, or prevention of type 1 diabetes and its complications. To date, JDRF has 22 IDDP partners across a range of research areas, committing approximately $25 million in research funding.

Diabetes is a chronic, debilitating disease affecting every organ system. There are two major types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. Type 1 diabetes usually strikes in childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood, but lasts a lifetime. People with type 1 diabetes must take multiple injections of insulin daily or continuous infusion of insulin through a pump just to survive. (Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which a person's body still produces insulin but is unable to use it effectively.) Taking insulin does not cure any type of diabetes nor prevent the possibility of its eventual and devastating effects: kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputation, heart attack, and stroke.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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About JDRF

JDRF was founded in 1970 by the parents of children with type 1 diabetes -- a disease that strikes children, adolescents, and adults suddenly, makes them insulin dependent for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Since inception, JDRF has provided more than $1.16 billion to diabetes research worldwide. More than 85 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and research-related education. JDRF's mission is constant: to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications through the support of research. For more information please visit http://www.jdrf.org/

About Plureon Corporation

Plureon Corporation is a research stage biotechnology company located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Plureon is seeking to develop therapeutic applications of its platform technology, a pluripotent stem cell obtained from amniotic fluid and placenta. These stem cells are obtained without harm to mother or child from biological material otherwise discarded as medical waste. This technology was published in the January 2007 issue of Nature Biotechnology. For more information, please visit http://www.plureon.com/.

Source: Susan Sherman
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International