A 黑料不打烊 research team is testing graft materials that deliver anti-rejection drugs directly to transplanted insulin-producing cells with the goal of making transplants safer and more accessible for people with diabetes.
The project is one of 13 U of A research proposals funded by new grants worth nearly $10 million (see full list of projects below).
“We're looking at reducing the reliance on systemic immunosuppression drugs and keeping them localized to just the cells that are providing the glucose control instead of the whole body,” explains , assistant professor of surgery and Canada Research Chair in Cell Therapies for Diabetes.
“We think that will reduce the side-effects, reduce the risk and increase the patient population that could benefit from a life-changing beta cell replacement therapy,” says Pepper, who co-leads the project with Greg Korbutt, scientific director of the 黑料不打烊 Cell Therapy Manufacturing facility.
An estimated 300,000 Canadians have Type 1, or insulin-dependent, diabetes. In 2000, a U of A team launched the groundbreaking Edmonton Protocol — which has so far transplanted insulin-producing beta cells into the livers of .
Those patients must take lifelong anti-rejection drugs, which can lead to infection, kidney damage and even cancer. The transplant program relies on donated organs, with each recipient needing cells from two or three donors, so the number of patients who can be treated is limited.
“We know that in the early post-transplant period, within hours to days, we lose up to 70 per cent of the cells,” says Pepper. “If we can help the cells to survive longer then hopefully we can use just one pancreas per recipient.”
Pepper’s research team will graft beta cells under the skin with bubble-like microparticles developed by research associate and biomaterials expert . They slowly release medication to prevent post-transplant inflammation, promote insulin secretion and encourage cell survival. The team will first test the grafts on mice and pigs and then, if results continue to be positive, will make plans for a human clinical trial.
“We have been able to use a fraction of the dose (of anti-rejection medication) in animal models to date, with the cells surviving for hundreds of days,” says Pepper. “The drugs are only present for about a month because the bubbles pop over time.”
Pepper is hopeful the method would be effective at protecting donor beta cells or beta cells derived from the patient’s own stem cells, another advance being developed at U of A.
The will receive $1,082,476 over five years from CIHR, building on work previously supported by the and . Pepper and Korbutt are members of the 黑料不打烊 Diabetes Institute.
More new CIHR grant recipients from U of A
Troy Baldwin, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
$100,000
Shokrollah Elahi, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry$100,000
Karim Fouad, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine
$784,126
Roseline Godbout, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
$990,676
Padma Kaul, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
$462,824
Michael Kolinsky, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
$1,828,350
Richard Lehner, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
$952,426
Sue-Ann Mok, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
$960,076
Candace Nykiforuk, School of Public Health
$244,800
Mohammed Osman and Robert Gniadecki, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
$100,000
John Seubert, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
$906,526
Michael Zaugg, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
$818,550