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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Neo-Islet Formation in Liver of Diabetic Mice by Helper-dependent Adenoviral Vector-Mediated Gene Transfer
Published on: October 10, 2012
Intravascular insulin gene delivery as potential therapeutic intervention in diabetes mellitus
Kakei Yasutomi1, Yoshiki Itokawa, Hidetsugu Asada
1Department of Microbiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.
Abstract:
We assessed therapeutic potential of intravascular insulin gene delivery in a diabetic murine model. The rat proinsulin-1 gene cDNA engineered to harbor furin consensus cleavage sequences was inserted into EBV-based plasmid vectors that contained CAG promoter or multimerized rat insulin promoter (RIP). Normal or streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice were given an injection of the plasmids via the tail vein under high pressure. Transfection of the CAG-proinsulin construct markedly improved hyperglycemia of diabetic mice, accompanied by a considerable increase in serum insulin concentrations. Although the RIP-plasmid failed to reduce fasting blood glucose, the glucose tolerance test and RT-PCR analysis revealed that insulin production was regulated in the liver in a blood glucose level-dependent manner. The present results suggest a potential therapeutic means of controlling DM.
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