Open AccessEngineering the gut for insulin replacement to treat diabetes
Author(s) -
Mojibian Majid,
Glavas Maria M,
Kieffer Timothy J
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of diabetes investigation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.089
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 2040-1124
pISSN - 2040-1116
DOI - 10.1111/jdi.12479
Subject(s) - enteroendocrine cell , diabetes mellitus , medicine , insulin , population , endocrine system , bioinformatics , hormone , cell , endocrinology , biology , genetics , environmental health
The gut epithelium's large surface area, its direct exposure to ingested nutrients, its vast stem cell population and its immunotolerogenic environment make it an excellent candidate for therapeutic cells to treat diabetes. Thus, several attempts have been made to coax immature gut cells to differentiate into insulin‐producing cells by altering the expression patterns of specific transcription factors. Furthermore, because of similarities in enteroendocrine and pancreatic endocrine cell differentiation pathways, other approaches have used genetically engineered enteroendocrine cells to produce insulin in addition to their endogenous secreted hormones. Several studies support the utility of both of these approaches for the treatment of diabetes. Converting a patient's own gut cells into meal‐regulated insulin factories in a safe and immunotolerogenic environment is an attractive approach to treat and potentially cure diabetes. Here, we review work on these approaches and indicate where we feel further advancements are required.