R & D Project 2

Project Title: Isolation of cells of regenerative capability from adult human pancreatic duct and islet - Culture, expansion/storage/potential applications.

Objectives
1. To isolate the stem cells from the adult/cadaver pancreas/pancreatic duct and culture them in vitro.
2. To expand and store the stem cells in the laboratory for future clinical application.

Abstract
Transplantation of isolated islets from cadaver pancreas is a promising possibility for the optimal treatment of type 1 diabetes. However, such an approach is severely limited by the shortage of donor organs. One approach for the generation of ß-cells involves expansion and differentiation of adult human pancreatic progenitor cells, which are closely related with the ß-cell lineage and would avoid the controversy and technical problems associated with pluripotent stem cells.
The focus of this work is to isolate the stem cells from the pancreatic duct, culture them and expand in vitro by the addition of various growth factors. The cells will also be cultured in an in-house developed novel hydrogel which is a good substrate for various cell types. If the cells could be expanded successfully, next step would be to transplant these cells in animals or humans.