March 17, 2016 10:30am
Shows Potential to Induce Durable Reversal of Type 1 Diabetes
MLCs modified using this proprietary cell targeting technology, called ex vivo fucosylation, have successfully induced durable reversal of Type 1 diabetes in a preclinical study. The study results were published in the peer reviewed journal Stem Cells (2015; 33:1523-1531).
The study’s lead investigator, Robert Sackstein, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said: “The hypothesis was that inflammation that destroys pancreatic islet cells could be controlled by selectively targeting the pancreas with anti-inflammatory mesenchymal lineage cells. The realization was that this new clinical approach essentially cured mice of Type 1 diabetes.”
Results of a placebo-controlled, randomized, dose-escalating P2 clinical trial of MESO’s product candidate MPC-300-IV in patients with Type 2 diabetes were published in the peer-reviewed journal Diabetes Care (2015; 38:1742-1749). By enhancing targeting of the cells to the inflamed pancreas, the ex vivo fucosylation technology has the potential to further augment the glucose lowering properties of MPC-300-IV, and to extend its use to patients with Type 1 diabetes.
The Bottom Line: Technology developed at Harvard Medical School can modify mesenchymal lineage adult stem cells (MLCs) to enhance their natural homing properties to sites of excessive inflammation. The results showed that the cell targeting technology increased by three-fold the numbers of MLCs reaching the inflamed pancreas in autoimmune diabetic mice following intravenous infusion, compared with unmodified MLCs. This resulted in a markedly increased number of mice who reverted to having normal blood glucose, and in durable reversal of Type 1 diabetes.
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