Scientists Cure Type 1 Diabetes in Mice Using a Gentle Immune System “Reset”

A groundbreaking study from Stanford Medicine has demonstrated that Type 1 diabetes — an autoimmune disease long considered irreversible — can be completely prevented or cured in mice using a gentle combination of blood stem-cell transplantation and pancreatic islet transplantation. Most strikingly, the mice required no immunosuppressive drugs and experienced no graft-versus-host disease during the six-month study.

This work represents one of the most promising steps yet toward a future where Type 1 diabetes may be treatable by “resetting” the immune system.

A New Way to Stop Autoimmunity Before It Starts

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system turns against the body’s own insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells. Stanford researchers, led by Seung K. Kim, MD, PhD, asked a bold question:What if we could retrain the immune system instead of permanently suppressing it?

Their solution was to build what they call a hybrid immune system — a blend of donor and recipient immune cells established through a gentle pre-transplant conditioning regimen.

This approach has two goals:

1. Replace the islets destroyed by autoimmunity

2. Reset the immune response so it stops attacking islet cells altogether

Unlike traditional stem-cell transplants for cancer, which require intense chemotherapy or radiation, this method uses low-dose radiation, immune-targeting antibodies, and a drug commonly used for autoimmune diseases — making it far safer and potentially suitable for non-life-threatening conditions like Type 1 diabetes.

19 of 19 Mice Protected — and 9 of 9 Cured

In the study:

• 19 out of 19 mice with strong autoimmune risk never developed Type 1 diabetes after receiving donor blood stem cells.

• 9 out of 9 mice with long-standing Type 1 diabetes were fully cured after receiving the combined stem-cell and pancreatic islet transplants.

• None required insulin or immunosuppressive therapy afterward.

• None developed graft-versus-host disease, a major risk in transplant medicine.

This success was possible because the transplanted donor stem cells effectively re-educated the hosts’ immune systems, stopping autoimmune attacks and protecting both transplanted and native tissues.

Building on Decades of Immune-Reset Research

This approach traces back to pioneering work by the late Samuel Strober, MD, and colleagues at Stanford, who showed that a partial immune-system match between donor and recipient could allow long-term organ transplant survival without lifelong immunosuppression.

The current study extends that idea into the realm of autoimmune disease, opening the door to future applications in:

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Lupus

• Multiple autoimmune endocrinopathies

• Non-cancerous blood disorders such as sickle cell disease

• Transplants involving mismatched organs

In all these cases, the ability to reset the immune system instead of simply suppressing it may offer long-lasting stability and fewer side effects.

Challenges Ahead — and New Strategies in Development

While the results are highly encouraging, several challenges need solving before human trials:

• Islet cells are scarce, usually obtained only from deceased donors.

• Donor islet cells and blood stem cells must come from the same individual.

• A single donor may not provide enough islets to reverse advanced Type 1 diabetes.

Researchers are developing strategies to overcome these limitations, including:

• Growing human islet cells from pluripotent stem cells in the lab

• Boosting survival and function of transplanted islets

• Creating donor-compatible cell banks for future transplantation

Kim and his team believe clinical translation is not only possible but a logical next step, given that all the drugs and antibodies used in the mouse study are already approved in clinical settings.

Why This Matters

If proven effective in humans, this immune-reset approach could:

• Offer a functional cure for Type 1 diabetes

• Eliminate the need for lifelong insulin injections

• Remove the burden of chronic immunosuppressive drug use

• Enable safer organ transplants from immunologically mismatched donors

• Expand stem-cell therapy to a wider range of autoimmune diseases

As Kim notes, “The ability to reset the immune system safely to permit durable organ replacement could rapidly lead to great medical advances.”

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, Breakthrough T1D Northern California Center of Excellence, Stanford Bio-X, and several philanthropic foundations.

---

Created: Dec 2nd, 2025

Citations:

Conger, Krista. (2025, November 18). Type 1 diabetes cured in mice with gentle blood stem-cell and pancreatic islet transplant. Stanford Medicine. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/11/type-1-diabetes-cure.html