Expanding pancreatic progenitor cells for treatment of type 1 diabetes
- Research Opportunity
- PhD students
- Department / Centre
- Paediatrics
- Location
- Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
Primary Supervisor | Number | Webpage | |
---|---|---|---|
Prof Ed Stanley | ed.stanley@mcri.edu.au | Personal web page |
Co-supervisor | Number | Webpage | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr Jacqui Schiesser | jacqui.schiesser@mcri.edu.au | Personal web page |
Summary The goal of this project will be to identify factors that can expand human PSC-derived pancreatic progenitor pools, thus allowing for efficient generation of large numbers of human PSC-derived endocrine cells for subsequent use in transplantation therapies.
Project Details
Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are a promising alternative to cadaver-derived islets, potentially providing an unlimited supply of insulin-producing beta cells for transplantation therapies to treat type 1 diabetes. Numerous protocols that promote the differentiation of PSCs towards a beta cell fate have been published and generally aim to recapitulate signalling processes that occur during embryogenesis. However, there is one noticeable discord between in vivo pancreatic development and in vitro pancreatic differentiation - the absence of a clearly defined progenitor expansion stage in in vitro differentiations.
In the embryo, prior to pancreatic specification, the gut tube undergoes significant expansion as the embryonic axis extends. Following this, the pancreatic progenitor compartment rapidly proliferates, undergoing branching morphogenesis, prior to endocrine differentiation, delamination and islet formation. The goal of this project will be to identify factors that can expand human PSC-derived pancreatic progenitor pools, thus allowing for efficient generation of large numbers of human PSC-derived endocrine cells for subsequent use in transplantation therapies.
This project will involve cell culture, directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells and flow cytometry
Faculty Research Themes
School Research Themes
Research Opportunities
PhD students
Students who are interested in joining this project will need to consider their elegibility as well as other requirements before contacting the supervisor of this research
Key Contact
For further information about this research, please contact a supervisor.
Department / Centre
Research Node
Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research InstituteMDHS Research library
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