Gene therapy via skin may treat diabetes, obesity according to : The Statesman

new form of gene therapy administered through skin transplants can help improve treatments for Type-2 diabetes and obesity, researchers have claimed. "We think this platform has the potential to lead to safe and durable gene therapy, in mice and we hope, someday, in humans, using selected and modified cells from skin," Wu added. When high-fat diet was combined with doxycycline, the mice secreted GLP1 and gained less weight, suggesting that "cutaneous gene therapy for GLP1 secretion could be practical and clinically relevant". It could be used to deliver therapeutic proteins, replacing missing proteins for people with a genetic defect such as hemophilia. When the mice were fed minute amounts of doxycycline, they released GLP1 into the blood, which promptly increased blood-insulin levels and reduced blood-glucose levels.




Therapeutic skin grafts for diabetes and obesity have been tested on wild type mice for the first time. A new study conducted by scientists from the University of Chicago in Illinois genetically engineered - and tested - therapeutic skin grafts aimed at managing diabetes and obesity. Scientists have started to test therapeutic skin grafts that aim to manage glucose levels and body weight in cases of diabetes and obesity. The main obstacle in the way of testing therapeutic engineered skin was finding enough wild type mice to perform the experiment on. The researchers - led by Dr. Xiaoyang Wu, from the University of Chicago Ben May Department for Cancer Research - tested the engineered skin grafts on wild type mice, whose diabetes and obesity were diet-induced.

Scientists treat diabetes and obesity with genetically altered skin grafts

The genetically altered skin grafts reduced blood glycogen levels in the treated mice, reducing the symptoms of diabetes. But these risks are minimal with skin grafts, Wu said. They embedded the gene in skin grafts and applied them to the bodies of lab mice with diabetes and obesity. The treated mice, who had been placed on high fat diets to induce obesity, also showed reduced appetites. Moreover, grafts can be easily monitored, since they sit on the skin, and can be removed with relative ease if needed.


collected by :Lucy William

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