New study on stem cell therapies for type 1 diabetes published by the Nostro Lab
Congratulations to Physiology's Dr. Cristina Nostro and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yasaman Aghazadeh who, in collaboration with Dr. Sara Nunes Vasconcelos' lab have engineered a new method to improve the survival and potency of transplanted pluripotent stem cells. Researchers have long hoped that transplanting these special cells — that can transform themselves into insulin-producing pancreas cells — will eventually lead to a cure for type one diabetes. This new work may be another crucial step in that direction. As detailed in this article by the University Health Network:
"The researchers isolated and recycled readily available microvessels from fat tissue to support the survival of cells transplanted under the skin....Upon transplanting the cells and microvessels into laboratory models, the team found that the microvessels were able to integrate with the host blood vessels, forming dense connections like the roots of a tree. With these stable and robust networks, the transplants retained up to six times more cells after three months than those without microvessels."
Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Aghazadeh took a moment out of her busy day to tell us more:
What does this work mean to you?
I have a background in pharmacology and drug discovery which made me realize how burdensome longterm drug administration can be for patients. This background triggered my interest in stem cell biology, and my decision to contribute to to cell therapies for the treatment of type 1 diabetes, which is a chronic disease that requires lifelong insulin administration. My favourite part of this work is that it has clinical relevance. It's also exciting to me that we had this work published this year — the same year as the 100th anniversary of the revolutionary discovery of insulin here in Toronto's Physiology department.
This was a multi-disciplinary collaboration between two laboratories, which provided me with the opportunity to establish a niche at the intersection of stem cell biology with a focus on pancreas development and vascular biology with a focus on bioengineering approaches. On a personal level working under two younger, female scientists was an invaluable experience which will help me in my future career.
Do you remember a specific "eureka moment" while you were doing this study?
During the first few months of my work, I realized that some of the diabetic models that received the treatment had reached normal blood sugar level — that was a really great moment for me. I also remember looking at some of the fully developed grafts and their composition under the microscope with a summer intern and just thinking, "This is really something!"
