Researchers at the Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and the Baylor Research Institute have developed a new technique to smuggle insulin-producing genes into the pancreas of mice by hiding them in a tiny “bubble.” This approach is a major step in the potential treatment of Type I diabetes since patients with the disease do not produce enough insulin on their own.
The technique, known as ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD), could someday be used to help treat diabetes.
Once the bubbles reach their target, they are burst with ultrasound releasing the insulin genes into the pancreas which normally produces insulin.
Once inside, the genes helped protect the organ against the ravages of diabetes.
Using UTMD, researchers delivered the bubbles containing human insulin genes into the pancreas of rats and later found that the rat’s blood sugar had been subsequently lowered. Another gene that regulates insulin production, known as hexokinase I, was successfully delivered using UTMD as well, and resulted in increased blood insulin and decreased blood sugar in the rats.
Dr. Grayburn says that the UTMD technique is one of the most important steps in the development of a successful treatment of diabetes without the need for daily insulin injections.
“Now that we have successfully delivered insulin genes to the pancreas, our ultimate goal is to research the regeneration of insulin-producing cells in patients with diabetes,” says Dr. Grayburn.
In the future, Dr. Grayburn says that the UTMD technique for gene delivery can be used to deliver therapeutic agents to other organs as well.
The research results were published in the May 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.