In recent years, finding effective solutions for type 1 diabetes treatment remains one of the main challenges in modern medicine. A new study conducted by scientists from the Karolinska Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden offers prospects for creating more reliable and effective cell therapies. As reported by Talent24h, the team has developed an improved method of producing insulin-secreting cells from human stem cells. These cells not only demonstrated maturity and uniformity but also successfully restored blood sugar regulation in laboratory mice with diabetes.
The essence of the discovery
Type 1 diabetes develops when the immune system destroys pancreatic cells responsible for insulin production. Without these cells, the body loses the ability to maintain stable glucose levels, leading to serious health consequences. Replacing lost cells has been considered a promising direction, but previous attempts to use stem cells yielded unstable results: the generated cells were often immature and did not always respond to glucose properly.
In a new study, Swedish researchers proposed an improved cultivation process that produces more mature and functional cells. These cells showed a pronounced response to glucose and secreted insulin under laboratory conditions. After being transplanted into diabetic mice, they provided a gradual restoration of blood sugar control.
Technology and its features
A key element of the method was the creation of conditions in which the cells independently form three-dimensional clusters. This approach reduced the number of unwanted cell types and increased the homogeneity of the population. As a result, they obtained cells that not only produce insulin but also maintain the ability to respond to changes in glucose levels for several months after transplantation.
According to Professor Per-Olof Berggren of the Karolinska Institute, the new technology ensures the stable production of high-quality cells from various lines of human stem cells. This opens up opportunities for the development of individualized cell therapies that could potentially reduce the risk of immune rejection.
Experimental results
In laboratory tests, cells grown using the new technique successfully secreted insulin and responded to glucose. After transplantation into diabetic mice, a gradual restoration of blood sugar control was observed. The transplants were performed into the anterior chamber of the eye, allowing for minimally invasive, long-term monitoring of cell development and function.
The study, published in Stem Cell Reports on April 16, 2026, highlights three main advantages of the new approach: obtaining more mature and uniform cells, reducing the number of unwanted cell types in the culture, and long-term maintenance of the ability to regulate blood sugar in animals.
Potential for future therapies
One of the main challenges of previous methods was the appearance of a mixture of desired and undesired cells in the culture, as well as insufficient maturity of insulin-producing cells. The new method allows these risks to be minimized and increases the effectiveness of cell therapy.
Although clinical trials using stem cells to treat type 1 diabetes are already underway, the described technology has so far only been tested in animals. The next step will be to prepare for possible application of the method in clinical practice.
Professor Fredrik Lanner, one of the authors of the study, notes that the proposed approach is capable of solving a number of issues that previously hindered the development of cell-based treatments for type 1 diabetes. The research team will continue working on implementing this technology to combat the disease.
