|
Type 1 Diabetes; Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Partners with Stemnion on Adult Stem Cell Project
Obesity & Diabetes Week via NewsRx.com
13 March 2006
2006 MAR 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation announced that it is partnering with Stemnion LLC, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based biomedical research firm, in an adult stem cell project.
Through the foundation's expanding Industry Discovery and Development Partnership Program, JDRF is awarding a 2-year grant to Stemnion to investigate the ability of stem cells found on the inner membrane of the amnion to differentiate into insulin-secreting cells that might be transplanted into patients with type 1, or juvenile diabetes.
Stemnion has developed a protocol to cultivate these amnion-derived cells to express a protein essential to the development of pancreatic cells. JDRF will fund Stemnion to explore the ability of these cells to further differentiate into insulin-producing cells. JDRF, a charitable funder of research for a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications, funds some $100 million of science annually.
Islet cell transplantation and beta cell regeneration are cure therapeutic areas that JDRF funds with an objective of accelerating the development of drugs, treatments, and therapies to a cure. During the past several years, the use of islet cell transplantation has proved successful in addressing the short-term complication of hypoglycemic unawareness in patients with type 1 diabetes. The application of islet transplantation, however, is severely limited by the availability of donor pancreata. Stem cells derived from the inner membrane of the amnion, which is normally discarded after the birth of a baby, could be an abundant source of much needed islet cells. Endogenous regeneration of insulin-producing beta cells is one of the fastest growing areas of diabetes research.
Stemnion is an early stage biotechnology company developing technologies based on a amnion-derived cell population. Stemnion is focused on cellular therapies for treatment of degenerative diseases currently lacking effective long-term therapies, including diabetes and cirrhosis.
JDRF has provided more than $900 million to diabetes research worldwide. More than 80% of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and education about research.
This article was prepared by Obesity & Diabetes Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2006, Obesity & Diabetes Week via NewsRx.com.
|
