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Stem Cells and Diabetes

Stem Cells and Diabetes. The Present. Background. Diabetes affects more people and causes more deaths each year than breast cancer and AIDS combined. The American Diabetes Association estimates that 16 million people, 5.9% of the U.S. population, currently has some type of diabetes.

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Stem Cells and Diabetes

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  1. Stem Cells and Diabetes The Present

  2. Background • Diabetes affects more people and causes more deaths each year than breast cancer and AIDS combined. • The American Diabetes Association estimates that 16 million people, 5.9% of the U.S. population, currently has some type of diabetes.

  3. What is diabetes? • group of diseases • abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood • possible complications include blindness, stroke, kidney failure, heart disease, poor circulation, and amputation

  4. Type 1 Diabetes • juvenile-onset • typically affects children and young adults • immune system attacks and destroys beta cells (β cells) in the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas that normally produce insulin • glucose does not enter the cells and therefore accumulates in the blood

  5. Type 2 Diabetes • adult-onset diabetes • typically affects older, sedentary, and overweight individuals with a family history of diabetes • body cannot use insulin effectively • due to insulin resistance, glucose accumulates in the blood

  6. Role of Pancreas in Diabetes

  7. What is insulin? • peptide hormone • synthesized within the β cells of the islets of Langerhans located in the pancreas • affects metabolism and other body functions • causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the bloodstream

  8. Role of Pancreas in Diabetes

  9. Question: In type I diabetics, is it possible to get  cells to produce insulin? • two possible sources of  cells • existing  cells • adult stem cells

  10. What are adult stem cells? They are: • undifferentiated cells that occur in differentiated tissue • able to make identical copies of themselves • able to yield specialized cell types of the tissue from which they originated • do not replicate indefinitely in culture

  11. Researchers are Investigating: • Is it possible to activate the differentiation of adult stem cells present in the pancreas in order to produce needed insulin in type I diabetics? • What advantage/disadvantage would this have over organ/islet transplantation or insulin injection?

  12. Researchers Would Need to Know: • Are there adult stem cells present in the pancreas that differentiate into beta cells? • Are adult pancreatic beta cells formed by self-duplication, stem cell differentiation, or a combination of the two processes?

  13. Mouse-Model Study A pulse-chase experiment performed by Professor Douglas Melton and his team provides important information about how beta cells are replaced.

  14. Keep in mind that cells are replaced by: • Adult stem cells • Mitotic division of existing cells • Combination of the two

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