On September 25, a collaborative research team from Nankai University’s Institute of Transplantation Medicine and Tianjin First Central Hospital, led by Professors Shen Zhongyang and Wang Shusen, along with their collaborators, published a groundbreaking study in the prestigious journal Cell. This research reports the first international case of transplanting insulin-producing islet cells derived from chemically induced pluripotent stem cells, achieving a functional cure for a patient with type 1 diabetes.

This research is the first clinical investigation utilizing islet cell transplantation from chemically reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cells for treating type 1 diabetes. The initial patient recovered  endogenous and physiological glucoregulation after transplantation, achieved complete insulin independence on day 75 days post-transplantation , and presented a state of stable glycemic control  for more than one year. The research preliminarily validates the safety and efficacy of islet cell therapy derived from chemically reprogrammed pluripotent stem cells, signifying a clinical functional cure for type 1 diabetes.

Pluripotent stem cells have the capacity for unlimited proliferation and can differentiate into all functional cell types in the body, making them essential “seed cells” in regenerative medicine. This research successfully reprogrammed human cells into induced pluripotent stem cells by using small chemical molecules, thereby creating a novel pathway for preparing pluripotent stem cells and offering an optimal source of cells for regenerative medicine.

Crucially, the successful application of functionally derived cells from chemical reprogramming in clinical treatments indicates that this technology could act as a universal method for efficiently generating diverse functional cell types, opening new possibilities for cell therapies in addressing major diseases. This clinical research is grounded in extensive preclinical studies and national stem registries for cell clinical research, providing substantial contributions to the advancement of diabetes treatment strategies.

Illustration of the clinical research based on chemically reprogrammed pluripotent stem cells for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes and its efficacy

Prof. Shen Zhongyang, Dean of the Institute of Transplantation Medicine Nankai University, and Prof. Wang Shusen, doctoral supervisor at the School of Medicine of Nankai University, are co-corresponding authors of this paper. Prof. Wang Shusen and Cai Xiangheng, a doctoral student from the Class of 2020 at the School of Medicine of Nankai University, are co-first authors, while Zhan Yixiang, a doctoral student from the Class of 2022 at the School of Medicine of Nankai University, is a contributing author. Nankai University is the primary completing institution.

Link to the paper: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(24)01022-5

（Edited and translated by Nankai News Team.)