New stem cell approach targets functional cure for diabetes

New research presented today at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2026 Annual Meeting explores an approach that could expand the potential of cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes by evaluating whether immune-engineered, allogeneic insulin-producing cells can survive and function without chronic immunosuppression.

The study addresses one of the field's central challenges: overcoming immune rejection, which has limited the broader use of islet and stem cell-based replacement therapies for type 1 diabetes.

"Type 1 diabetes is still treated primarily by replacing insulin, not by replacing the insulin-producing cells that were lost," said Sonja Schrepfer, M.D., Ph.D., Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA, and Guest Professor at Uppsala University, Sweden, who presented at the meeting. "Our goal is to develop a cell replacement approach that can survive and function without chronic immunosuppression, with the long-term vision of providing a curative therapy for people with type 1 diabetes."

This first-in-human study is designed to evaluate whether hypoimmune engineering can enable transplanted allogeneic cells to persist, remain protected from immune attack, and function without the need for chronic immunosuppression.

What is most meaningful is that we are now able to ask, in a human study, whether hypoimmune engineering can allow transplanted allogeneic cells to persist and function without chronic immunosuppression. That has been a central question for the field."

Dr. Sonja Schrepfer, M.D., Ph.D., Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA

Beyond its potential implications for type 1 diabetes, the research could inform the broader development of allogeneic stem cell-based therapies by investigating whether immune-engineered cells can be safely evaluated for persistence, immune protection, and function in people.

If confirmed in future studies, the findings could help expand access to cell replacement therapies by eliminating one of the major barriers to their widespread use.

"These findings could support a future in which cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes becomes more broadly applicable and no longer requires lifelong immunosuppression," Dr. Schrepfer explained. "This would be an important step toward a functional cure by replacing the insulin-producing cells that were lost, restoring biological insulin production, and reducing the daily burden of disease management for patients."

Important questions remain, including how durable the therapy may be over time, how hypoimmune cells interact with both alloimmune and autoimmune responses, and how the approach can be advanced into scalable therapeutic products for larger patient populations.

"If we can reliably protect transplanted cells from immune rejection, this approach could open the door to many types of off-the-shelf cell, tissue, and eventually organ replacement therapies that can be available to patients when and where they are needed," she said.