Gene therapy for Type 1 diabetes

Abstract

In Type 1 diabetes, autoimmunity destroys the insulin-producing β-cells of the pancreas, which are located in clusters called ‘islets of Langerhans’. Exogenous insulin replacement therapy seldom maintains ideal metabolic control in patients with this disease and consequently, chronic complications progressively develop in many of them. Recently, much of the research concerning the treatment of Type 1 diabetes has been aimed towards the development of gene therapy. The understanding of molecular approaches, such as gene transfer using viral and non-viral delivery systems, are providing novel therapeutic strategies towards a cure for this disease. This review gives an overview of recently filed patents that relate to gene therapy and Type 1 diabetes.

• beta-cells
• gene transfer
• genetic engineering
• genetic vectors
• insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM)
• islets of Langerhans