[acb-diabetics] new cells may help prevent type 1

[Patricia LaFrance-Wolf]

ProtoKinetix Anti-Aging Glycopeptides Show Promise Against Diabetes

Russell Phillips, PhD

Jan 13, 2010 

 

Type 1 diabetes

 is an autoimmune disease in which the 

insulin

-producing cells of the pancreas (islet cells) are destroyed by the body's
own immune system. Without insulin, the body's cells cannot absorb sugar
from

the bloodstream for energy. 

 

One potential avenue for the treatment for 

type 1

 diabetes is to transplant insulin-producing islet cells into the body. The
Edmonton Protocol is a method of implanting pancreatic islets into the liver

for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The protocol is named for the 

islet transplant

ation group at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, where the
protocol was first devised in the late 1990s.

 

Transplanting islet cells from a donor requires the patient receiving the
cells to be on immune-suppressing drugs so that the islets can survive and
thrive.

Producing islets from a set of cells taken not from a donor, but from the
person with type 1 diabetes, would allow for a greater chance that the
islets

would survive and not be rejected by the body. Producing these new islet
cells has proven to be a difficult task, unfortunately, but there is hope.
Differentiating

pluripotent stem cells into islet cells has been accomplished in the
laboratory and may be the answer for treating or possibly curing type 1
diabetes.

 

Increasing the number of stem cells available to convert into pancreatic
islet cells would, of course, substantially increase the number of islet
cells

that could then be implanted. And that's where ProtoKinetix comes into the
picture.

 

ProtoKinetix, Inc., is a biotechnology company that has developed and
patented a family of synthetic anti-aging glycoproteins for medicine and the
biotechnology

industry. ProtoKinetix anti-aging glycopeptides, trademarked as AAGPsTM,
have been demonstrated to enhance the health and extend the life of
biologically

sensitive cells that have been subjected to acute stress conditions under
laboratory controlled protocols.

 

In a press release, ProtoKinetics stated that "independent studies done by
universities and corporations have illustrated a remarkable increase in the
yield

of viable stem cells after cryopreservation using AAGPTM in the freeze-thaw
process. AAGPsTM have shown to be stable and non-toxic."

 

* * *

 

Source:

 

www.protokinetix.com

 

Business Wire 

press release

 

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