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Quantum Grant Summary

Amniotic Stem Cells: Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes
Grant Number - 1R01EB008009

Principal Investigator
Anthony Atala, M.D.
Wake Forest University Health Services
Winston-Salem, NC

Cells from the amniotic fluid are retrieved through the common practice of amniocentesis for the purpose of genetic testing. A sub-population of these cells expresses the stem cell marker c-Kit and can be isolated and expanded in vitro. The AFS cells can be differentiated in vitro to form multiple tissue types from all embryonic lineages. In vitro differentiated cells can be used for implantation, or alternatively, they can be delivered directly to the diseased tissue.

More than one million people in the United States suffer from type 1 diabetes, which is caused by the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells. Currently available insulin therapy, by itself, does not cure the disease or prevent many of its long-term complications. Transplantation of islet cells has shown promise, but there is a paucity of donors, and the process is expensive and inefficient, and subjects the patient to life-long immunosuppression.

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the University of Miami Division of Cellular Transplantation have combined their expertise in stem cell differentiation and in vivo cell transplant studies to explore a new approach using amniotic fluid stem cells. These cells do not seem to have the worrisome tumor potential of embryonic stem cells and are more robust and flexible than other types of stem cells. The team has successfully isolated amniotic fluid stem cells and generated insulin-producing, islet-like cells in vitro. Future work will determine whether these cells are able to function and survive in animal models of diabetes. If successful, this approach could potentially provide a curative treatment for type I diabetes, opening the door for transplantation using either a patient's own cells banked at birth, or cells drawn from a large amniotic fluid stem cell bank.

Abstract

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