renowned biomaterials group tackles islet encapsulation technology

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JDRF is funding acclaimed laboratories at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) and Children’s Hospital Bostonof Harvard Medical School to develop synthetic materials for theprotective encapsulation of islets prior to transplantation. If successful,the project could greatly improve the success of human islettransplants, and open the door to the successful use of islets frompigs or human stem cells. Islets are clusters of cells in the pancreasincluding beta cells, which are the insulin-producing cells that aredestroyed by the immune system in the attack that causes type 1diabetes. An islet cell transplant replaces these insulin-producingcells with functioning ones from a donor.The three-year, $4.3 million initiative will seek to identify thebest materials for shielding islets from immune attack while allowingthem to secrete insulin normally. The work will be conductedby Robert S. Langer, an internationally renowned researcher atMIT’s Center for Cancer Research with expertise in biotechnologyand materials science. Working with Dr. Langer will be MIT’sDaniel Anderson, Gordon Weir, M.D., a JDRF researcher at JoslinDiabetes Center, and Daniel S. Kohane, at Children’s Hospital