Project Summary:
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease that results from the loss of insulin-producing beta cells. The only treatment available for T1D is insulin supplementation. One of the most promising paths to restoring insulin production and curing T1D is islet cell transplantation. Islet cells include beta cells, the insulin producing cells attacked by the immune system in T1D. A major challenge of transplantation is that the immune system perceives transplanted cells or organs as foreign and tries to destroy them. This requires recipients take long-term immunosuppressants, which increases the risk of serious infection, kidney problems, and cancer.
Dr. Surve wants to make islet transplantation safer and more available to people with T1D. She is developing biomaterial system that can deliver anti-inflammatory and immune-calming drugs directly in the transplant site. Dr. Surve is developing an innovative nano-in-microgel system to deliver specialized cocktail of drugs targeting innate immune cells, which drive inflammation and recruitment of beta cell specific T cells, and T cells, the cells which attack beta cells.
Dr. Surve hypothesizes that this approach will result in localized, temporal delivery of specific immunomodulators that will protect transplanted beta cells. The advantages of Dr. Surve’s approach are that it could eliminate the need for lifelong systemic immunosuppression, making islet transplantation safer, and could improve survival and function of transplanted islet cells, making islet transplantation longer lasting. By overcoming a major barrier to islet transplantation, Dr. Surve’s work may bring us one step closer to a cure for T1D.
