DIABETES Cytotoxic Mechanisms Employed by Mouse T Cells to Destroy Pancreatic β-Cells Researchers used the transfer of genetically modified diabetogenic T cells into normal, mutant, and bone marrow chimeric recipients to test the contribution of major cytotoxic mechanisms in β-cell death. [Diabetes] Abstract Death Protein 5 and p53-Upregulated Modulator of Apoptosis Mediate the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mitochondrial Dialog Triggering Lipotoxic Rodent and Human β-Cell Apoptosis This study elucidates the crosstalk between lipotoxic endoplasmic reticulum stress and the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis that causes β-cell death in diabetes. [Diabetes] Abstract Enhanced Function of Pancreatic Islets Co-Encapsulated with ECM Proteins and Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in a Silk Hydrogel Researchers demonstrated that encapsulation in silk with both mesenchymal stromal cells and extracellular-matrix (ECM) proteins enhances islet function and, with further development, may have potential as a suitable platform for islet delivery in vivo. [Biomaterials] Abstract Activation of the Transcription Factor Carbohydrate-Responsive Element-Binding Protein by Glucose Leads to Increased Pancreatic Beta Cell Differentiation in Rats This work supports the idea that glucose, through the transcription factor carbohydrate-responsive element-binding protein, controls beta cell differentiation from pancreatic progenitors. [Diabetologia] Abstract Histone Deacetylases 1 and 3 But Not 2 Mediate Cytokine-Induced Beta Cell Apoptosis in INS-1 Cells and Dispersed Primary Islets from Rats and Are Differentially Regulated in the Islets of Type 1 Diabetic Children The authors investigated which histone deacetylases (HDACs) mediate inflammatory beta cell damage and how the islet content of these HDACs is regulated in recent-onset type 1 diabetes. [Diabetologia] Abstract Pancreas-Enriched miRNA Refines Endocrine Cell Differentiation Researchers showed that microRNA-7 (miR-7) is specifically expressed in endocrine precursors and in mature endocrine cells. miR-7 knockdown resulted in Pax6 upregulation and promoted α- and β-cell differentiation. [Development] Abstract PANCREATIC CANCER RNA Sequencing of Pancreatic Circulating Tumor Cells Implicates WNT Signaling in Metastasis Scientists adapted a microfluidic device for efficient capture of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from an endogenous mouse pancreatic cancer model and subjected CTCs to single-molecule RNA sequencing, identifying Wnt2 as a candidate gene enriched in CTCs. [Nature] Abstract | Press Release GLP-1 and Glucagon Secretion from a Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Causing Diabetes and Hyperinsulinemic Hypoglycemia This is the first description of glucagon and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion from a metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor causing sequential diabetes and hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia was caused by insulin secretion from hyperplastic β-cells stimulated by tumor-derived GLP-1. [J Clin Endocrinol Metab] Abstract TRAIL-Engineered Pancreas-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Characterization and Cytotoxic Effects on Pancreatic Cancer Cells Researchers characterized pancreas-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and investigated the effects of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-engineered MSCs on pancreatic cancer cells under different culture conditions. [Cancer Gene Ther] Abstract Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α Is Necessary for Invasive Phenotype in Vegf-Deleted Islet Cell Tumors Scientists concluded that the invasive phenotype observed under angiogenesis inhibition requires hypoxia inducible factor-1α, but is not directly caused by acute hypoxia. [Sci Rep] Full Article |