The Potential of Gene Therapy to Cure Diabetes
explanatory Essay
1815 words
The Potential of Gene Therapy to Cure Diabetes
Abstract
Gene therapy treats and prevents a disease by introducing a vector of genetic material into certain cells to alter the function or ability of a gene. The promise of gene therapy as a cure for diabetes has been considered ever since this new technology emerged into the clinical and research sphere. Although such methods have yet to undergo human clinical tests, gene therapy holds much potential to bring a radical new way of treating autoimmune diseases such as diabetes. By targeting certain genes that control the insulin and ?-cell production in the pancreas, gene therapy will someday fulfill its potential to cure the disease that is the number one cause of heart disease in the United States. This paper will explore the potential protocols and products that can be used to treat Type I Diabetes.
Diabetes is an autoimmune disease that has affected more than 140 million people in the world. This disease, results from the attack of the killer T-cells of the immune system upon the ?-cells in the pancreas that produces insulin. (Lin et al., 2001). Until recently, this disease could only be treated with daily insulin injections and adherence to a strict, low glucose diet. With more than ninety percent of diabetics at risk for future complications like heart disease, blindness, and renal failure, diabetes has developed into more than just a medical issue. Diabetes is also becoming largely an emotional and economic issue. Victims of this disease have no choice but to adjust their lives around the only object that could change their lives?a daily injection that may cost 50% of the annual income in developing countries and up to 600% in non-developed countries. New technology th...
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...ne Therapy, (10), 875-889.
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Lin, Andrew, Cathy Huang, and Kendrick Ong. (2001). Type I AutoImmune Diabetes. Diabetes & Gene Therapy. July 21, 2005: http://dragon.zoo.utoronto.ca/~jlm2001/J01T0301B/index.html
Nitta, Y., et al. (1998). Systemic Delivery of Interleukin 10 by Intramuscular Injection of Expression Plasmid DNA Prevents Autoimmune Diabetes in Nonobese Diabetic Mice. Human Gene Therapy, (9), 1701-1707.
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Thule, P.M. and Liu, J.M. (2000). Regulated hepatic insulin gene therapy of STZ-diabetic rats. Gene Therapy 7: 1744-1752.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that gene therapy treats and prevents a disease by introducing genetic material into certain cells to alter the function or ability of the gene. this paper will explore the potential protocols and products that can be used to treat type i diabetes.
- Explains that diabetes is an autoimmune disease that has affected more than 140 million people in the world.
- Explains the potential of gene therapy for diabetes. type i diabetes is a chronic disease that is usually diagnosed in childhood and has proven hereditary and genetic link.
- Explains that an ideal gene therapy treatment would eliminate the need for daily insulin injections or strict monitoring of blood glucose levels.
- Opines that anti-apoptotic procedures aim to prevent type i diabetes before it sets in and stop the cell death mechanisms of?-cells.
- Explains that a20 is an effective anti-apoptotic protein that works by inhibiting the transcription facter nfkb in rodent and human pancreatic islets.
- Explains the potential of gene therapy for diabetes 4 of the a20 vector inducing an immune response from the host body.
- Explains how nitta et al. introduced the il-10 gene into plasmid dna and insert it into muscle in non-obese mice. this protocol holds much potential for curing or preventing diabetes.
- Explains that the third type of gene therapeutic treatment involves the introduction of insulin producing genes.
- Describes how thule and liu engineered a complete gene expression system that could express mature insulin in response to rising levels of glucose and cease production when insulin levels were high compared to glucose.
- Explains that the potential of gene therapy for diabetes 6 contains furin protease binding sites that allow the immature insulin expressed from the gene to be changed into an active form that can regulate glucose levels.
- Opines that gene therapy provides a likely and current means of prevent or curing diabetes.
- Cites bottino, r., et al. (2003), gene-and cell-based therapeutics for type i diabetes.
- Explains that systemic delivery of interleukin 10 by intramuscular injection of expression plasmid dna prevents autoimmune diabetes in nonobese diabetic mice.
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