Posted by DWK on July 03, 2003 at 18:20:47:
3 rd Response from Dr. Yoon U of C University Calgary:
Thank you for your e-mail of Dec. 3. To answer your question regarding the time frame to clone and sequence the human form of the promoter, we expect to finish this work in about 6 months. After that, we need to replace the rat form of the promoter in our original gene construct with the human form of the promoter. We will then test this new gene construct in human cells in culture to see if adding glucose to the culture medium will result in the release of insulin from the transfected cells. If this experiment is successful, then we will test the new gene construct in diabetic marmosets. I expect that these studies will take several years to complete. However, the speed of these experiments will depend on obtaining the necessary funds from various granting agencies.
Thank you again for your interest in our work.
Sincerely yours,
Ji-Won Yoon, Ph.D.
Professor, Canada Research Chair in Diabetes
Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Centre
The University of Calgary
3330 Hospital Drive N.W.
Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1 Canada
Tel: 403-220-4569; Fax: 403-270-7526
yoon@ucalgary.ca
2 nd Response from Dr. Yoon U of C University Calgary:
Thank you very much for your e-mail of Nov. 24 regarding recent developments in our research on insulin gene therapy for type 1 diabetes.
Since our initial report about 2 years ago, we have been working on adapting our insulin gene therapy for rodents to non-human primates. We discovered that the rodent form of the gene therapy did not work well in controlling blood glucose in diabetic marmosets, a non-human primate. Therefore, we are now cloning and sequencing the human form of the gene (promoter) that controls the expression of the insulin gene in response to blood glucose. Once this work is complete, we will replace the rat form of the promoter with the human form in our gene construct and test its efficacy in the marmosets. If this successfully controls blood glucose, then we may consider pre-clinical trials.
Thank you again for your interest in our work.
Sincerely yours,
Ji-Won Yoon, Ph.D.
Professor, Canada Research Chair in Diabetes
Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Centre
The University of Calgary
3330 Hospital Drive N.W.
Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1 Canada
Tel: 403-220-4569; Fax: 403-270-7526
yoon@ucalgary.ca
:alk
1 st Response from Calgary U of C PR person:
as you are likely aware, discoveries such as these add one small piece to the large puzzle of disease - the timeline between a discovery in mice to phase 1 clinical trials can be a decade or more.
to my knowledge, dr yoon is still investigating this approach to diabetes in animal models and in the basic science laboratory.
sincerely, karen thomas
Original email:
Attn.: Miss Karen Thomas, Media Relations, University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine T
What development has happen since your announcement of Nov. 22/02 below??
U of C's press release on that date had a very promising find? but no further information has been forthcoming?
A reply would greatly be appreciated.
Sincerely,
DWK
"November 22, 2000 Diabetes Breakthrough by Faculty of Medicine Researcher New Gene Therapy Technique Puts Type 1 Diabetes Into Remission"