A world-first Australian discovery facilitating the regeneration of insulin in pancreatic stem cells destroyed by type 1 diabetes could lead to new treatment options for the disease.

In groundbreaking research, a Monash University team has demonstrated in a preclinical study that adding a novel compound to donor stem cells reactivates the beta cells to produce insulin.

The team used GSK126, also known as tazemetostat, which is an EZH2 inhibitor approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for an indication unrelated to diabetes (epithelioid sarcoma).

“We showed within two days that we can restore not just insulin expression but all the key markers in genes that are associated with beta cells and stem cells,” research co-author Dr Keith Al-Hasani, from the university’s department of diabetes, told Australian Doctor.