DIRECT Therapies · Diabetes Immunoengineering: Redesigning Encapsulated Cell Transplant Therapies
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-07-01 → 2021-06-30
- EU contribution
- €269,858
- Participants
- 3
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Diabetes Immunoengineering: Redesigning Encapsulated Cell Transplant Therapies
Diabetes remains a global healthcare challenge, affecting around 370 million people worldwide. For some patients, diabetes is caused by the destruction of the insulin-producing cells by the host immune system. These cells are called beta cells and clusters of these cells are found together in the pancreas, called islets. For a sub-set of Diabetes Type I patients, transplanting donor islets into the patient can help to restore glucose control in some patients. However, like other patients who receive a kidney or lung transplant, these patients have to take immunosuppressive drugs, often daily, for the remainder of their lives to prevent transplant rejection. These drugs can impact the quality of life for the patient, and may lead to an impaired immune system at risk of opportunistic pathogens and increased cancer risk. There is an unmet clinical need to develop new tools and technologies that can deliver immune suppression locally to protect transplanted tissue from rejection by the immune system. These new materials should simultaneously support transplanted tissues in integrating with the host, whilst allowing the host immune system to function normally in response to infection and disease in other parts of the body. Developing this technology would enable transplant patients to live healthier lives. The scientific aim of this project was to develop innovative multifunctional materials for diabetes-1 cell therapies; those that can better support islet function and also direct the host immune system. We hoped that these technologies would help us to study how the immune system responds to transplanted materials. Indeed, we found that by developing materials which deliver anti-inflammatory cytokines directly to the transplant niche, we were able to extend transplant lifetimes with reduced need for systemic immune suppression. Our next steps will be to evaluate different delivery systems which can get these immunoregulatory molecules to the right place at the right time.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Diabetes Immunoengineering: Redesigning Encapsulated Cell Transplant TherapiesDiabetes remains a global healthcare challenge, affecting 370 million people worldwide. Islet transplantation offersthe potential to restore insulin function in diabetes-1 patients, and is proving successful in human clinical trials.However a major limitation is the requirement for patients to take global immunosuppressive drugs, often daily, for the remainder of their lives. These drugs can impact the quality of life for the patient, and may lead to an impaired immune system at risk of opportunistic pathogens. The scientific aim of this project is to develop innovative multifunctional materials for diabetes-1 cell therapies; those that can better support islet function and also direct the host immune system, removing the need for global immune suppression and enhancing transplant lifetimes.This project connects a talented young researcher with a background in chemistry, biomaterials science andimmunoengineering, to a host institution with expertise in drug delivery and tissue engineering (Nottingham), and aninternationally renowned outgoing institution (Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School) with expertise in transplant encapsulation and diabetes therapies.Combining the localised drug delivery expertise of the host institution, the diabetes-1 cell therapy transplant knowledge ofthe outgoing institution, and the researcher’s own expertise in immunoengineering presents a unique opportunity and newapproach to addressing this healthcare challenge, and facilitates development of the researcher's career through a specifiedtraining-in-research program. Bridging the gap between the transplant immunology, biomaterials and drug delivery fields inthis way meets the “Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World” EU vision towards Open Science and follows theroad map for integrative research proposed by the UK Medical Research Councils for regenerative medicine research.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM · NottinghamCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
- CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CORPORATION · BostonUnited States
- MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · CambridgeUnited States
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union