Pancreatic Cell News Volume 2.25 | Jun 28 2011

New Discoveries in Diabetes
A new signal pathway that renders the insulin-releasing beta cell more sensitive to high levels of blood glucose has been discovered by researchers. [Press release from Karolinska Institutet discussing online prepublication in Nature Medicine and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA]

Mayo Clinic Developing Artificial Pancreas to Ease Diabetes Burden
Mayo Clinic endocrinologists are developing an artificial pancreas that will deliver insulin automatically and with an individualized precision never before possible. [Mayo Clinic, Minnesota Press Release]

Generic Drug Reproduces Mechanism That Reversed Diabetes in Mice, Phase II Trial Now Underway
Researchers are presenting findings which describe the apparent reproduction in human patients of the mechanism that reversed type 1 diabetes in a mouse model and proposing that lack of a key part of that mechanism may explain why recent trials of an antibody-based diabetes therapy were not successful. [Press release from Massachusetts General Hospital discussing research presented at the 71st Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, San Diego]

Genes at the Flick of a Light Switch
Researchers have fitted human cells with a synthetic signalling cascade that can be used to switch on and regulate genes via blue light. This “gene light switch” makes interesting therapies possible, which could be used to treat type 2 diabetes, for instance. [Press release from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich discussing online prepublication in Science]

Chemical Produced in Pancreas Prevented and Reversed Diabetes in Mice
A chemical produced by the same cells that make insulin in the pancreas prevented and even reversed Type 1 diabetes in mice. [Press release from St. Michael’s Hospital discussing online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA]

DIABETES

A Synthetic Optogenetic Transcription Device Enhances Blood-Glucose Homeostasis in Mice
By functionally linking the signal transduction of melanopsin to the control circuit of the nuclear factor of activated T cells, researchers have designed a synthetic signaling cascade enabling light-inducible transgene expression in different cell lines grown in culture or bioreactors or implanted into mice. [Science]

Lowering Apolipoprotein CIII Delays Onset of Type 1 Diabetes
Researchers have investigated the BB rat, an animal model that develops a human-like type 1 diabetes, and found that apolipoprotein CIII was also increased in sera from prediabetic rats. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA]

Huntingtin-Interacting Protein 14 is a Type 1 Diabetes Candidate Protein Regulating Insulin Secretion and β-Cell Apoptosis
To identify disease-causing genes in type 1 diabetes, researchers performed an in silico “phenome–interactome analysis” on a genome-wide linkage scan dataset. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA]

GABA Exerts Protective and Regenerative Effects on Islet Beta Cells and Reverses Diabetes
Researchers report here that GABA exerts antidiabetic effects by acting on both the islet β-cells and immune system. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA]

PANCREATIC CANCER

A Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Pancreatic Neoplasia Using a Novel RNAi Platform Targeting PDX-1
Bi-functional shRNA, a novel RNA interference effector platform targeting PDX-1 utilizing a systemic DOTAP-Cholesterol delivery vehicle, was studied in three mouse models of progressive pancreatic neoplasia. [Nature]

Pancreatitis-Induced Inflammation Contributes to Pancreatic Cancer by Inhibiting Oncogene-Induced Senescence
The results support the concept that anti-inflammatory treatment of people diagnosed with pancreatitis may reduce their risk of developing pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. [Cancer Cell]

MicroRNA-148a is Down-Regulated in Human Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinomas and Regulates Cell Survival by Targeting CDC25B
In the present study, researchers investigated the transcription status of miRNA-148a in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and its role in the regulation of the dual specificity protein phosphatase CDC25B. [Lab Invest]

Armed and Targeted Measles Virus for Chemovirotherapy of Pancreatic Cancer
For specific therapy of pancreatic cancer, researchers generated a fully retargeted measles virus that enters cells exclusively through the prostate stem cell antigen. [Cancer Gene Ther]

Threshold Pharmaceuticals Announces Completion of Patient Recruitment for Phase 2 TH-302 Pancreatic Cancer Study
Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced the completion of patient enrollment into their Phase 2 pancreatic cancer study with TH-302, a novel small molecule tumor selective Hypoxia-Activated Prodrug that specifically targets tumor hypoxia and is applicable to a broad range of solid tumors. [Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. Press Release]

Nuvilex Describes Critical Advantages of Live-Cell Encapsulation Technology
Nuvilex, Inc. described some of the characteristics and benefits of using the live–cell encapsulation technology that is the basis of their recently–acquired pancreatic cancer treatment. [Nuvilex, Inc. Press Release]

Erytech Pharma Completes the Enrollment of Patients in its Phase I Clinical Trial in Pancreatic Cancer
Erytech Pharma has just completed the enrollment of patients in a Phase I clinical trial with its flagship product for pancreatic cancer, Graspa. [ERYTech Pharma Press Release]

Return Of North-American Rights And Approval Of Clinical Development Plan For RP101 In Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Patients By European Authorities
RESprotect announces that it has received back the North-America rights for RP101, RESprotect’s anticancer drug with proven efficacy to combat chemoresistance and improve chemosensitivity, from its former North American partner. [RESprotect GmbH Press Release]

FDA Issues Draft Guidance for Early Version of an Artificial Pancreas System
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued draft guidance that will help advance the development and approval of an artificial pancreas system to treat type 1 diabetes in the United States. [U.S. Food and Drug Administration, United States]

National Institutes of Health (United States)

Food and Drug Administration (United States)
 
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)

European Medicines Agency (European Union)

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

National Health Service (United Kingdom)

Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

NEW Cancer Research Global Summit
August 16-17, 2011
London, United Kingdom

NEW The EMBO Meeting
September 10-13 2011
Vienna, Austria

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the pancreatic cell community.

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Research and Development Senior Technologist (STEMCELL Technologies)

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Research and Development Technologist, hPSC Media (STEMCELL Technologies) 

Scientist (iPSC) (STEMCELL Technologies)

Post Doctoral Fellow (University of California, Los Angeles)

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