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September 2023
By: Jessica Hu
Background:
Diabetes is a condition that causes the body to produce little to no insulin or one’s body does not respond well to insulin produced thus requiring an insulin injection to use glucose for energy for type 1 and 2 diabetes. The reason why insulin cannot be taken in the form of a pill is because it would be broken down during digestion and become destroyed. So, insulin is administered through an injection into the fat under your skin for it to get into a person’s blood.
Insulin-Releasing Cell:
Scientists have been working on designing cells in capsules implanted in the body to release into the blood according to a certain trigger such as light, temperature, and electric fields. Martin Fussenegger, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) of ETH Zurich, and his colleagues were developing music triggering the cells to release insulin within minutes. The use of the protein from the bacteria E. coli makes the insulin-producing cells receptive to sound waves since the cells create the ion channel themselves which is embedded in their membrane. The channels in the cells open in response to sound allowing for positive calcium ions to flow into the cell which leads to the insulin-filled vesicles in the cell fusing with the cell membrane and releasing the insulin to the body.
Music Trigger:
The best ion channel activation trigger was studied to be volume levels of around 60 decibels (dB) and bass frequencies of 50 hertz. Additionally, the finding that the maximum insulin release would be when the music is played for a minimum of three seconds and a pause of a maximum of five seconds, or else less insulin would be released if the music play and pause time frames were too far apart. When testing the best music genre for strongest insulin response, it was found that rock music gave the best results: “We Will Rock You,” from Queen and the soundtrack to the action movie The Avengers. The trigger of “We Will Rock You” was approximately 70 percent of the insulin response within 5 minutes and all of it in 15 minutes. This is comparable to the natural glucose-induced insulin response of healthy individuals, Fussenegger says.
Animal Model & Safety Measures:
The system was tested by the researchers implanting the insulin-producing cells into mice and their bellies were directly placed on the loudspeaker which ensured the researchers a way to observe the insulin response. The cells were designed to only release insulin when the sound source is directly played on the skin above the implant thus the mice were not able to move freely during the test. Also, it was designed for the hormone to not be released by ambient noises such as aircraft noises, lawnmowers, fire brigade sirens, and conversations in order to prevent unnecessary insulin release from slight noises. Another safety buffer created was the insulin depots needing four hours to replenish after being used to prevent a full load of insulin every time causing hypoglycemia.
What’s Next?
To arrive at clinical application of the use of insulin-producing cells is a very long process. As the proof of the concept is proven to be a possibility, this unlocks potential for the advancements in the release of insulin.
References
American Diabetes Association. (n.d.). Insulin Basics https://diabetes.org/healthy-living/medication-treatments/insulin-other-injectables/insulin-basics
AboutKidsHealth. (n.d.). Insulin pumps. https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/Article?contentid=1733&language=English
ETH Zurich. (2023, August 22). Cells with an ear for music release insulin. ScienceDaily.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230822193045.htm
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