Senesco’s New Gene Technology Increases the Survivability of Pancreatic Islet Cells
Senesco Technologies announced that a preclinical animal study has shown that its proprietary gene technology increases the survivability of islets isolated for transplantation.
Dr. Eli C. Lewis, working in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Dinarello at the University of Colorado, investigated the role of the Senesco’s eIF-5A1 (otherwise referred to as “Factor 5A”) gene technology during the process of islet isolation for transplantation using a well-established mouse model.
The team used a small interfering RNA (siRNA) that downregulates expression of eIF-5A1 and reduces cell death in a variety of models. The researchers observed a significant increase in the survival of insulin-producing islets when mice received an infusion of the siRNA to eIF-51A compared to a control siRNA. In a concurrent study, the investigators showed that death of islets resulting from exposure to IL-1beta and interferon-gamma was also significantly reduced, meaning more viable islets remained.
The transplantation of the insulin-producing islets from donors has progressed during the past five years. Most promising is the fact that patients whose condition is difficult to control with insulin have a rapid return to normal blood glucose upon islet transplantation.
Presently, one of the major drawbacks of islet transplantation is the low number of live islets that can be obtained for transplantation. The promise of this novel approach will be a boon to the medical field.
March 29th, 2006 at 5:44 am
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