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Marques J, Nunes R, Carvalho AM, Florindo H, Ferreira D, Sarmento B. GLP-1 Analogue-Loaded Glucose-Responsive Nanoparticles as Allies of Stem Cell Therapies for the Treatment of Type I Diabetes. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 2024; 7:1650-1663. [PMID: 38751616 PMCID: PMC11092009 DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.4c00173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Revised: 04/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is characterized by insufficient insulin secretion due to β-cell loss. Despite exogenous insulin administration being a lifesaving treatment, many patients still experience severe glycemic lability. For these patients, a β-cell replacement strategy through pancreas or pancreatic islet transplantation is the most physiological approach. However, donors' scarcity and the need for lifelong immunosuppressive therapy pose some challenges. This study proposes an innovative biomimetic pancreas, comprising β- and α-cells differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) embedded in a biofunctional matrix with glucose-responsive nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulating a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogue, which aims to enhance the glucose responsiveness of differentiated β-cells. Herein, glucose-sensitive pH-responsive NPs encapsulating exenatide or semaglutide showed an average size of 145 nm, with 40% association efficiency for exenatide-loaded NPs and 55% for semaglutide-loaded NPs. Both peptides maintained their secondary structure after in vitro release and showed a similar effect on INS-1E cells' insulin secretion. hiPSCs were differentiated into β- and α-cells, and insulin-positive cells were obtained (82%), despite low glucose responsiveness, as well as glucagon-positive cells (17.5%). The transplantation of the developed system in diabetic mice showed promising outcomes since there was an increase in the survival rate of those animals. Moreover, diabetic mice transplanted with cells and exenatide showed a decrease in their glucose levels. Overall, the biomimetic pancreas developed in this work showed improvements in diabetic mice survival rate, paving the way for new cellular therapies for T1D that explore the synergy of nanomedicines and stem cell-based approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana
Moreira Marques
- i3S—Instituto
de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- INEB—Instituto
de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade
do Porto, Rua Alfredo
Allen, 208, 4200-180 Porto, Portugal
- UCIBIO—Applied
Molecular Biosciences Unit, REQUIMTE, MedTech–Pharmaceutical
Technology Laboratory, Drug Sciences Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
| | - Rute Nunes
- i3S—Instituto
de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- IUCS-CESPU
- Instituto Universitário de Ciências da Saúde, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal
| | - Ana Margarida Carvalho
- i3S—Instituto
de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- INEB—Instituto
de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade
do Porto, Rua Alfredo
Allen, 208, 4200-180 Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS—Instituto
de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - Helena Florindo
- Research
Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Domingos Ferreira
- UCIBIO—Applied
Molecular Biosciences Unit, REQUIMTE, MedTech–Pharmaceutical
Technology Laboratory, Drug Sciences Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
| | - Bruno Sarmento
- i3S—Instituto
de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- INEB—Instituto
de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade
do Porto, Rua Alfredo
Allen, 208, 4200-180 Porto, Portugal
- IUCS-CESPU
- Instituto Universitário de Ciências da Saúde, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal
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Leavens KF, Alvarez-Dominguez JR, Vo LT, Russ HA, Parent AV. Stem cell-based multi-tissue platforms to model human autoimmune diabetes. Mol Metab 2022; 66:101610. [PMID: 36209784 PMCID: PMC9587366 DOI: 10.1016/j.molmet.2022.101610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which pancreatic insulin-producing β cells are specifically destroyed by the immune system. Understanding the initiation and progression of human T1D has been hampered by the lack of appropriate models that can reproduce the complexity and heterogeneity of the disease. The development of platforms combining multiple human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) derived tissues to model distinct aspects of T1D has the potential to provide critical novel insights into the etiology and pathogenesis of the human disease. SCOPE OF REVIEW In this review, we summarize the state of hPSC differentiation approaches to generate cell types and tissues relevant to T1D, with a particular focus on pancreatic islet cells, T cells, and thymic epithelium. We present current applications as well as limitations of using these hPSC-derived cells for disease modeling and discuss efforts to optimize platforms combining multiple cell types to model human T1D. Finally, we outline remaining challenges and emphasize future improvements needed to accelerate progress in this emerging field of research. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS Recent advances in reprogramming approaches to create patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell lines (iPSCs), genome engineering technologies to efficiently modify DNA of hPSCs, and protocols to direct their differentiation into mature cell types have empowered the use of stem cell derivatives to accurately model human disease. While challenges remain before complex interactions occurring in human T1D can be modeled with these derivatives, experiments combining hPSC-derived β cells and immune cells are already providing exciting insight into how these cells interact in the context of T1D, supporting the viability of this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karla F Leavens
- Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Juan R Alvarez-Dominguez
- Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Linda T Vo
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Holger A Russ
- Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Audrey V Parent
- Diabetes Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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Carvalho AM, Nunes R, Sarmento B. From pluripotent stem cells to bioengineered islets: A challenging journey to diabetes treatment. Eur J Pharm Sci 2022; 172:106148. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejps.2022.106148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Chmielowiec J, Szlachcic WJ, Yang D, Scavuzzo MA, Wamble K, Sarrion-Perdigones A, Sabek OM, Venken KJT, Borowiak M. Human pancreatic microenvironment promotes β-cell differentiation via non-canonical WNT5A/JNK and BMP signaling. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1952. [PMID: 35414140 PMCID: PMC9005503 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29646-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In vitro derivation of pancreatic β-cells from human pluripotent stem cells holds promise as diabetes treatment. Despite recent progress, efforts to generate physiologically competent β-cells are still hindered by incomplete understanding of the microenvironment's role in β-cell development and maturation. Here, we analyze the human mesenchymal and endothelial primary cells from weeks 9-20 fetal pancreas and identify a time point-specific microenvironment that permits β-cell differentiation. Further, we uncover unique factors that guide in vitro development of endocrine progenitors, with WNT5A markedly improving human β-cell differentiation. WNT5A initially acts through the non-canonical (JNK/c-JUN) WNT signaling and cooperates with Gremlin1 to inhibit the BMP pathway during β-cell maturation. Interestingly, we also identify the endothelial-derived Endocan as a SST+ cell promoting factor. Overall, our study shows that the pancreatic microenvironment-derived factors can mimic in vivo conditions in an in vitro system to generate bona fide β-cells for translational applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jolanta Chmielowiec
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Department, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Wojciech J Szlachcic
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 6, 61-614, Poznan, Poland
| | - Diane Yang
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Department, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Marissa A Scavuzzo
- Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Katrina Wamble
- Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Alejandro Sarrion-Perdigones
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Omaima M Sabek
- Department of Surgery, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA.,Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Koen J T Venken
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.,McNair Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Malgorzata Borowiak
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Department, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 6, 61-614, Poznan, Poland. .,Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,McNair Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
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