How much insulin is enough? A quantitative assessment of the transdifferentiaton potential of liver

Excerpt

Adenoviral vector-mediated expression of the pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 gene (Pdx1; current designation in mice insulin promotor factor-1, Ipf1) in mice has previously been reported to result in hepatic, glucose-regulated insulin secretion sufficient to ameliorate experimentally induced diabetes [1]. In studies designed to assess the clinical applicability of this approach, we developed a protocol employing non-human primates rendered insulin-deficient (and therefore diabetic) through selective intra-arterial streptozotocin (STZ) infusion into the pancreas [2]. We obtained and amplified the adenoviral vector in which the CMV promoter drives rat Pdx1 expression (Ad-CMV-Pdx1 referred to hereafter as Ad-Pdx1), kindly provided by S. Ferber, Endocrine Institute, Sheba Medical Centre, Tel-Hashomer, Israel. …