Breakthrough Nanotherapy for Diabetics: "The concept of enhancing and controlling side effects of drugs via nanodelivery is not a new one... 'but here we're not enhancing an effect. [Instead], we are generating a totally different cellular response.'".

• Author: Reynolds, Win
• Position: MEDICINE & HEALTH

PEOPLE living with type 1 diabetes carefully must follow prescribed insulin regimens every day, receiving injections of the hormone via syringe, insulin pump, or some other device--and without viable long-term treatments, this course of treatment is a lifelong sentence.

Tissue in the pancreas called islets control insulin production when blood sugar levels change and, in type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks and destroys such insulin-producing cells. Islet transplantation has emerged over the past few decades as a potential cure for type 1 diabetes. With healthy transplanted tissue, type 1 diabetes patients no longer may need insulin injections, but transplantation efforts have faced setbacks as the immune system eventually will reject new islets. Current drugs that prevent rejection across other diseases do not protect the body against new cells and tissues and can create harmful side effects.

Now, a team of researchers at Northwestem University has discovered a technique to help control the immune response more effectively. The method uses nanocarriers to reengineer the commonly used immunosuppressant drug rapamycin. Employing these rapamycin-loaded nanocarriers, the researchers generated a new form of immunosuppression capable of targeting specific cells related to the transplant without suppressing wider immune responses.

Guillermo Ameer, professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Regenerative Engineering (CARE), has been working on improving the outcomes of islet transplantation by providing islets with an engineered environment, using biomaterials to optimize their survival and function. However, problems associated with traditional systemic immunosuppression remain a barrier to the clinical management of patients and also must be addressed to truly have an impact on their care, he indicates.

"This was an opportunity to partner with Evan Scott, a leader in immunoengineering, and engage in a convergence research collaboration that was well executed with tremendous attention to detail by Jacqueline Burke, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow," Ameer says.

Rapamycin is well-studied and commonly used to suppress immune responses during other types of treatment and transplants, notable for its wide range of effects on many cell types throughout the body. Typically delivered orally, rapamycin's dosage must be monitored carefully to prevent toxic effects. Yet, at lower doses it...