The Kent Lab is Investigating the Role of Extracellular Vesicles in the Development of Type 1 Diabetes
Date Posted: Friday, September 23, 2022Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are involved in the communication between cells in various processes including immune responses. The role(s) that EVs play in the development of type 1 diabetes is still not clear. Some scientists believe EVs could potentially lead to the discovery of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets. They can also precisely transport bioactive molecules which could be considered for possible therapies.
UMass Chan Diabetes Center of Excellence Immunologist Sally C. Kent, PhD, was awarded a Multi-Principal Investigator (MPI) R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/ National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) entitled Extracellular Vesicle-mediated islet immune cross talk in type 1 diabetes pathogenesis.
“This project will examine the function of extracellular vesicles originating directly from the target tissues [islets] in human type 1 diabetes on human islets and immune cell populations and the elucidation of the active peptide contents of these vesicles,” said Dr. Kent, Associate Professor and The George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Term Chair in Diabetes at UMass Chan. “The goal of these studies is to understand the functional role of target-tissue-derived extracellular vesicles in the pathophysiology of the disease and to provide biomarkers for disease development.”
Sally Kent is a MPI for this award, along with colleagues, Helena Reijonen, PhD, and Rupangi Vasavada, PhD, at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope.
Modeling and Studying the Autoimmune Processes of Human Type 1 Diabetes Using Human Cells and Tissue