I posted about this on my blog earlier today.

Whether this works or not, I do find it exciting that other people are
trying different techniques to solve the type 1 diabetes problem. And
in the end it may be a combination of things that turns out provide
the solution.

I met Dr. Faustman on Monday and talked with her as she took a blood
sample from me. I'll blog about that later in the week. All I will say
here is that they're working hard on this issue and it's a pleasure to
spend time with someone who's so committed to figuring out a cure. I
look forward to another visit in September and another blood draw!
Heck, I'd give blood every day if I thought it would help.

Bernard
http://blog.bernardfarrell.com/

--- In nathanfaustmantrials@yahoogroups.com, "gr8discjck"
<gr8discjck@...> wrote:
>
> Protein power: Researchers trigger insulin production in diabetic mice
> Filed under Research, Health on Tuesday, January 8, 2008.GAINESVILLE,
> Fla. � If the human body were a stage, then proteins would rank among
> the lead actors in the play we call "Life."
>
> These large biological molecules hold many starring roles, and their
> lines are dictated by information encoded in our genes. They are
> production powerhouses, regulating the basic processes of living and
> controlling countless functions. Many are enzymes that produce or use
> energy. Others regulate genes.
>
> Researchers are increasingly studying proteins as potential therapies
> for a variety of dread diseases because they can influence cell
> behavior by fueling or dampening certain molecular signals.
>
> Now University of Florida researchers have coaxed liver and
> pancreatic cells within diabetic mice into churning out insulin by
> injecting the animals with a naturally occurring protein called Pdx1,
> opening up a new research avenue that someday could lead to safer
> treatments for type 1 diabetes. Pdx1 activates the genes controlling
> the development of the pancreas cells that make and release insulin
> to maintain safe levels of glucose in the body. The UF research
> team's novel approach is described online in the journal Diabetes.
>
> "Pdx1 is so special because it possesses a unique amino acid sequence
> that acts as a sort of molecular passport, allowing it to pass freely
> into cells, enter the nucleus and activate insulin production and
> release," said lead scientist Dr. Li-Jun Yang, an associate professor
> of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine at UF's College of
> Medicine.
>
> Earlier research has shown that inserting the Pdx1 gene into liver or
> pancreas cells can induce insulin production, but most gene therapy
> methods use viruses to introduce a piece of genetically engineered
> DNA into cells. The disadvantage of such approaches is that
> researchers can never be certain the viruses are entirely harmless,
> Yang said.
>
> The idea with protein therapy is that eventually a person's own cells
> could be reprogrammed to naturally produce the hormone, restoring the
> body's ability to properly regulate blood sugar levels without having
> to use a potentially hazardous virus to slip corrective genes into
> the body or having to transplant pancreatic cells from someone else.
> That could eliminate the adverse effects sometimes associated with
> gene therapy and eliminate the need for lifelong suppression of the
> immune system so transplanted cells are not rejected, Yang said.
>
> "We sought to see what happens if we inject highly pure Pdx1 protein
> into (the abdomens of) diabetic animals," said Yang, who is also a
> founder and head of the scientific advisory board for Transgeneron
> Therapeutics Inc., which seeks to develop Pdx1 as a treatment for
> diabetes. UF holds a provisional patent on Pdx1 protein
> therapy. "Amazingly, the treated mice did all the rest. Upon daily
> injection of this protein for 10 days into diabetic animals, their
> blood glucose levels became normalized within two weeks following the
> first injection. We repeated the experiment six times, and we got the
> reproducible result every time. What is remarkable is that the
> protein also promotes regeneration of insulin-producing cells in the
> pancreas, allowing the diabetic mice to become normal."
>
> Yang said there is now reason to believe normal blood sugar levels
> can be maintained for long periods, suggesting that an infrequent
> Pdx1 injection might someday replace daily insulin injections. Even
> more importantly, the reprogrammed and regenerated cells should make
> and release insulin, automatically maintaining safe blood sugar
> levels, she said.
>
> "Right now, promoting beta cell regeneration has become such a hot
> topic," she added. "The trick is to figure out how to trigger glucose-
> regulated insulin-producing cells to regenerate."
>
> Still, the approach will have to be tested in studies that assess its
> safety before scientists could conduct patient trials to determine
> whether it works in people, studies that are still years away.
>
> "What's so innovative about UF's approach is the ability to normalize
> blood glucose levels in diabetic mice simply by delivering Pdx1
> protein in the target cells, thus effectively eliminating the side
> effects associated with gene therapy," Yang said.
>
> Dr. Joel Habener, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School
> whose research team was one of three groups that discovered Pdx1 and
> identified it as an important regulator of pancreas development, said
> using viruses as vectors for gene therapy in humans can pose problems
> because of the body's immune reaction to them. He heralded the UF
> findings and said the idea of using a protein to correct a condition
> like diabetes is appealing because it is naturally occurring, "not a
> chemical compound that's been synthesized from the mind of a chemist
> that's a foreign substance."
>
> "What these findings teach is there is promise for a therapeutic
> approach to the treatment of diabetes," he said. "I think one of the
> really major breakthroughs here is the demonstration of principle
> that the naked protein in and of itself can get into cells and cause
> changes that are remarkable in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes, the
> regeneration of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas."
>
> http://news.ufl.edu/2008/01/08/pdx1/
>