Our resource hub is home to a wealth of articles, stories and videos about managing and living with type 1 diabetes.
Place your order for our free information packs that support adults and children who have been recently diagnosed.
Our researchers are working on different ways to develop a cure for type 1 diabetes - from growing insulin-producing beta cells in labs to hacking the immune system.
Learn about the technologies that can deliver insulin automatically when needed. And discover the next generation of insulins that are currently being developed.
We have a wide range of fun and festive designs to choose from. Fund life changing research while spreading joy this Christmas!
This Christmas, your gift can bring us closer to a cure for type 1 diabetes – and every pound you give to our Christmas Appeal will be doubled.
The announcement is the biggest treatment breakthrough for type 1 diabetes since the discovery of insulin.
This event is designed for anyone living with type 1 diabetes who would like to learn more about managing their wellbeing across a variety of contexts.
We provide a wealth of information and free resources to help you support and empower your patients or students.
Take our free course for schools to learn more about supporting pupils with type 1 diabetes in educational settings.
Home > About JDRF & Our Impact > Our research > Research projects > Can islet helper cells in the pancreas treat type 1 diabetes?
Dr Chloe Rackham
Dr Chloe Rackham, JDRF-funded researcher at the University of Exeter, is looking at how mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the pancreas , also known as ‘islet helper’ cells, may be different in people with type 1. Her research will help us understand how MSCs could be used to treat or prevent type 1.
MSCs are found in most parts of the body, including the pancreas, bone marrow, fat tissue and kidneys. MSCs help the insulin-producing beta cells make insulin in response to rising blood glucose levels. They may also help to protect beta cells from the immune attack that leads to type 1. Clinical trials have shown that MSCs can help to retain the function of beta cells in people newly diagnosed with type 1.
A photo taken through a microscope of human mesenchymal stem cells
This previous research has helped us understand the function of MSCs elsewhere in the body, such as those taken from bone marrow. We know much less about the MSCs in the pancreas and their role in people with and without type 1. Chloe’s research will help improve our knowledge of MSCs in the pancreas and reveal if they could be used to treat type 1.
Using state-of-the art microscope and imaging techniques, Chloe and her team will study pancreas samples from children newly diagnosed with type 1 to find out how the MSCs change in type 1 diabetes. They will measure whether the number, distribution and function of pancreas MSCs are altered in type 1. Their analysis will determine whether the pancreas MSCs play a role in preventing the immune system from destroying beta cells and causing type 1.
Beta cells exist with other types of cells in clusters called islets. Each islet has a protective capsule surrounding it which acts as a physical barrier to harmful immune cells. We already know that this shield is lost as type 1 develops and that MSCs can make many parts of the capsule. Chloe will use powerful microscopes to find out if MSCs help preserve the protective capsule by seeing whether the barrier is more complete when there are MSCs present.
The researchers will watch how the MSCs interact with the islet cells and the immune cells using fluorescent dyes. They will give each cell type in the pancreas (including pancreas MSCs, islet capsule components, beta cells and immune cells) a different fluorescent label. The multicoloured pattern that emerges will reveal the role of the pancreas MSCs in health and in people developing type 1.
Chloe is using pancreas samples from a range of people at different stages of developing type 1. This will help her assess whether the role of pancreas MSCs differs between different subgroups of people with type 1. If her analysis reveals differences in pancreas MSCs among type 1 subgroups, it may suggest who may benefit most from treatments that target MSCs. She will also try to work out when would be the most beneficial time in the development of type 1 to give a potential treatment targeting the MSCs.
Improving our understanding of MSCs in the pancreas is vital to determine whether a treatment targeting MSCs could help people with type 1 maintain a healthy population of beta cells. Ultimately, we hope this type of treatment could prevent people ever developing type 1. But even boosting the number of functioning beta cells people with type 1 have is beneficial. Having more beta cells can reduce short-term risks of hypoglycaemia, risk of long-term diabetes complications, and improve overall quality of life.
Chloe is the only researcher we are funding to investigate MSCs, but other JDRF-funded researchers are trying to protect beta cells in different ways. For example, Dr Gavin Bewick is developing a drug that interferes with the immune system’s attack on beta cells. Find out more about Gavin’s research.
Daniel Doherty’s research project aims to make islet transplants last longer and work better to benefit more people with type 1.
Dr Leslie Johnson will explore whether a collaborative care model that is effective for type 2 diabetes can be adapted for people with type 1.
Dr Ify Mordi is an expert in heart disease and diabetes at the University of Dundee. We are funding Ify to run the first clinical trial of the drug sotagliflozin in people living with type 1 diabetes and heart failure.
We are funding Professor Timothy Tree and his team at King’s College London to support clinical trials of ustekinumab in young people recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The team is analysing blood samples from people taking part in the clinical trials USTEKID and UST1D2.
