DIABETES & PANCREATITIS Imatinib Mesylate Stimulates Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein 1-Mediated ERK Phosphorylation in Insulin Producing Cells Scientists studied LRP1 function in beta-cells and to what extent imatinib modulates LRP1 activity. LRP1 and c-Abl gene knockdown was performed by RNAi using rat INS-1 832/13 and human EndoC1-bH1 cells. [Clin Sci] Abstract Maternal Inheritance of an Inactive Type III Deiodinase Gene Allele Affects Mouse Pancreatic β-Cells and Disrupts Glucose Homeostasis Researchers used heterozygous D3KO animals to study the allelic expression pattern of Dio3 in pancreatic β-cells and the metabolic phenotype resulting from its inactivation. [Endocrinology] Abstract Quantitative Proteomics Reveals the Link between Minichromosome Maintenance Complex and Glucose-Induced Proliferation of Rat Pancreatic INS-1E β-Cells Scientists applied the SILAC strategy to INS-1E cells cultivated with medium or high glucose concentrations for 24 hours, and they targeted nuclear proteins that have a central role in proliferation-related mechanisms. [J Proteomics] Abstract Transplantation of Betacellulin-Transduced Islets Improves Glucose Intolerance in Diabetic Mice Researchers transduced islets with adenoviruses expressing betacellulin, an epidermal growth factor receptor ligand, which promotes β-cell growth and differentiation, and transplanted these islets under the renal capsule of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. [Exp Mol Med] Full Article PANCREATIC CANCER Targeting the Warburg Effect with a Novel Glucose Transporter Inhibitor to Overcome Gemcitabine Resistance in Pancreatic Cancer Cells The effects of gemcitabine and/or CG-5 on viability, survival, glucose uptake, and DNA damage were evaluated in gemcitabine-sensitive and -resistant pancreatic cancer cell lines. [Carcinogenesis] Abstract Profiling and Targeting of Cellular Bioenergetics: Inhibition of Pancreatic Cancer Cell Proliferation Scientists mapped the two intrinsic cellular bioenergetic parameters, oxygen consumption rate and proton production rate in six different pancreatic cancer cell lines and determined their differential sensitivity to mitochondrial and glycolytic inhibitors. [Br J Cancer] Abstract Gemcitabine Diphosphate Choline Is a Major Metabolite Linked to the Kennedy Pathway in Pancreatic Cancer Models In Vivo Researchers used a mouse model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: KRASG12D; p53R172H; pdx-Cre that recapitulates the human disease to study gemcitabine intra-tumoral metabolism. [Br J Cancer] Full Article XMD8-92 Inhibits Pancreatic Tumor Xenograft Growth via DCLK1-Dependent Mechanism Scientists showed that XMD8-92 inhibits AsPC-1 cancer cell proliferation and tumor xenograft growth. XMD8-92 treated tumors demonstrated significant downregulation of doublecortin-like kinase1 (DCLK1) and several of its downstream targets via upregulation of tumor suppressor miRNAs. [Cancer Lett] Abstract Pancreatic Cancer Cell Glycosylation Regulates Cell Adhesion and Invasion through the Modulation of α2β1 Integrin and E-Cadherin Function Scientists addressed the role of a glycosylation pattern in the functional properties of two glycoproteins involved in the processes of cancer cell invasion and migration, α2β1 integrin, the main receptor for type 1 collagen, and E-cadherin, responsible for cell-cell contacts and whose deregulation determines cell invasive capabilities. [PLoS One] Full Article |