Journal article

Xenotransplantation of Genetically Modified Neonatal Pig Islets Cures Diabetes in Baboons

WJ Hawthorne, EJ Salvaris, YV Chew, H Burns, J Hawkes, H Barlow, M Hu, AM Lew, MB Nottle, PJ O’Connell, PJ Cowan

Frontiers in Immunology | Published : 2022

Abstract

Xenotransplantation using porcine donors is rapidly approaching clinical applicability as an alternative therapy for treatment of many end-stage diseases including type 1 diabetes. Porcine neonatal islet cell clusters (NICC) have normalised blood sugar levels for relatively short periods in the preclinical diabetic rhesus model but have met with limited success in the stringent baboon model. Here we report that NICC from genetically modified (GM) pigs deleted for αGal and expressing the human complement regulators CD55 and CD59 can cure diabetes long-term in immunosuppressed baboons, with maximum graft survival exceeding 22 months. Five diabetic baboons were transplanted intraportally with 9..

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University of Melbourne Researchers