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Gene therapy via skin could treat obesity, type 2 diabetes
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In a proof-of-concept study, gene therapy administered through skin transplants showed promise as an avenue for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity, according to a press release from the University of Chicago.
Xiaoyang Wu, MD, assistant professor in the Ben May Department for Cancer Research at the University of Chicago, and colleagues modified the gene for GLP1, which stimulates insulin production, to extend its half-life in the bloodstream to allow it to circulate longer.
The gene was inserted into skin cells and cultured into a transplantable skin graft. The grafts were transplanted onto immune-intact mice, which showed no significant rejection of the transplant.
After the graft, the mice had increased blood insulin and reduced blood glucose levels.
“We think this can provide a long-term safe option for the treatment of many diseases,” Wu said in the release. “It could be used to deliver therapeutic proteins, replacing missing proteins for people with a genetic defect, such as hemophilia. Or it could function as a metabolic sink, removing various toxins.”