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The Network for Pancreatic Organ donors with Diabetes ((nPOD) ), is a collaborative type 1 diabetes research project funded by JDRF (formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). nPOD supports scientific investigators by providing, without cost, rare and difficult to obtain tissues beneficial to their research. nPOD currently supports more than 100 type 1 diabetes-related scientific studies at institutions around the world, fostering an unparalleled environment of data sharing and collaboration. Our hope is that nPOD will prove a useful resource to the community of researchers dedicated to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.〔()〕 ==History and Mission== Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from an autoimmune response against the insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas. This destruction of beta cells causes patients to develop a lifelong dependence on insulin replacement therapy. Unfortunately, insulin injections are often insufficient for preventing many severe complications including heart disease, kidney failure, and blindness, among others. The disease process that leads to the development of T1D has been under investigation for more than 100 years. Several of the major players have been identified, but many key mechanisms of disease development remain undiscovered.〔http://www.jdrfnpod.org/mission.php〕 The majority of studies investigating type 1 diabetes have been performed in rodents due to the lack of availability of human tissues. While these studies have allowed us to identify potential causes for T1D and have directed many researchers in the development of their methods, key biological differences between rodents and humans prevent their use to uncover the specifics of disease progression.〔Roep, Bart. “Satisfaction (not) guaranteed: re-evaluating the use of animal models of type 1 diabetes”. ''Nat Rev Immunol.'' 2004;4(12):989-97〕 nPOD grew out of a vision to bridge this gap of understanding by creating a biobank to collect and distribute diabetes-associated human tissues to researchers. JDRF recognized this reality and took on the vision to create a biobank of human tissue for type 1 diabetes research, despite the notion of the time that it was an impossible feat. JDRF asked Mark Atkinson, PhD, at the University of Florida to drive this initiative. He agreed and gathered a team. Together they took on the challenge of creating nPOD.〔Dinsmoor, Robert S. "The Little nPOD That Could." ''JDRF Countdown'' Spring 2010: 12-14. Print.〕 Since 2007, nPOD has grown from supporting seven researchers to more than 100 projects. Several members have been added to the administrative, processing, and data management teams to handle the success of the project that was believed to be impossible. :The goals of nPOD are twofold:〔http://www.jdrfnpod.org/mission.php〕 :: *First, to maintain a network of procuring and characterizing pancreas and related tissues (spleen, duodenum, lymph nodes, pancreatic lymph nodes, and peripheral blood) from cadaveric organ donors with type 1 diabetes as well as those who are positive for islet autoantibodies but have yet to develop T1D. :: *Second, to promote collaboration through investigator utilization of these tissues and data sharing in an effort to address key immunological, histological, viral, and metabolic questions related to the development of type 1 diabetes. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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