Failure to Achieve Normal Metabolic Response in Non-Obese Diabetic Mice and Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice After Transplantation of Primary Murine Hepatocytes Electroporated With the Human Proinsulin Gene (p3MTChins)

Hepatocytes can be transfected with p3MTChins to produce human insulin but may lack the proper glucose-sensing or complex storage and secretion capabilities that allow for a finely tuned dynamic insulin response. Treatment is subtherapeutic, and p3MTChins-hepatocyte function may not endure in an autoimmune model. Without successful preliminary findings, cell therapy involving electroporation of p3MTChins does not appear to be practical as a therapy for diabetes and may not be a strategy to pursue at this time.