Pancreatic Cell News Volume 7.30 | Aug 2 2016

TOP STORY

Novel Drug Therapy Kills Pancreatic Cancer Cells by Reducing Levels of Antioxidants

Reducing levels of antioxidants in pancreatic cancer cells can help kill them suggesting an entirely new treatment strategy for the notoriously lethal illness. [Press release from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory discussing online prepublication in Cell] Press Release | Abstract | Graphical Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

DIABETES & PANCREATITIS

Innovative Encapsulation Platform Based on Pancreatic Extracellular Matrix Achieve Substantial Insulin Delivery

Scientists have developed a novel artificial pancreas encapsulation platform for the treatment of diabetes that is based on solubilized whole porcine pancreatic extracellular matrix. [J Control Release] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Regulation of Pancreatic Alpha Cell Function and Proliferation by Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 (BMP4) In Vitro

Scientists investigated the effects of BMP4 on mouse and human alpha cells in vitro. [Endocrinology] Abstract

PANCREATIC CANCER

Metabolic Plasticity Underpins Innate and Acquired Resistance to LDHA Inhibition

Metabolic reprogramming in tumors represents a potential therapeutic target. Researchers used shRNA depletion and a novel lactate dehydrogenase (LDHA) inhibitor, GNE-140, to probe the role of LDHA in tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. [Nat Chem Biol] Abstract

Role of SATB2 in Human Pancreatic Cancer: Implications in Transformation and a Promising Biomarker

Researchers examined the molecular mechanisms by which special AT-rich binding protein-2 (SATB2) regulates transformation of human pancreatic normal ductal epithelial (HPNE) cells, and assess whether transformed HPNE cells gained the phenotypes of cancer stem cells. [Oncotarget] Full Article

Enhanced Mitochondrial Glutamine Anaplerosis Suppresses Pancreatic Cancer Growth Through Autophagy Inhibition

Scientists reported that human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells have a distinct dependence on mitochondrial glutamine metabolism. [Sci Rep] Full Article

PTEN Alterations of the Stromal Cells Characterize an Aggressive Subpopulation of Pancreatic Cancer with Enhanced Metastatic Potential

Researchers examined phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) status in the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma focusing especially at the stromal cells. [Eur J Cancer] Abstract

The TGFβ-SMAD3 Pathway Inhibits IL-1α Induced Interactions Between Human Pancreatic Stellate Cells and Pancreatic Carcinoma Cells and Restricts Cancer Cell Migration

Scientists aimed to explore TGFβ and IL-1α signaling and cross-talk in the stellate cell cancer cell interactions regulating pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell migration. [J Exp Clin Cancer Res] Full Article

Quercetin Sensitizes Pancreatic Cancer Cells to TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis Through JNK-Mediated CFLIP Turnover

Investigators tested the hypothesis that quercetin, a flavonoid, induces apoptosis in tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-resistant pancreatic cancer cells. [Int J Biochem Cell Biol] Abstract

Novel REIC/Dkk-3-Encoding Adenoviral Vector as a Promising Therapeutic Agent for Pancreatic Cancer

Scientists developed an Ad-reduced expression in immortalized cells (REIC) vector with a novel gene expression system, termed the super gene expression system, and assessed its therapeutic effects relative to those of Ad-CAG-REIC in pancreatic cancer cells. [Cancer Gene Ther] Abstract

MiRNA-Regulated Cancer Stem Cells: Understanding the Property and the Role of MiRNA in Carcinogenesis

The authors explained different characteristics of cancer stem cells as well as microRNA (miRNA) regulation of self-renewal and differentiation in cancer stem cells. [Tumour Biol] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the pancreatic cell research field.

​Sanofi Receives FDA Approval of Adlyxintm for Treatment of Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

Sanofi announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Adlyxin^TM, a once-daily mealtime GLP-1 receptor agonist injection indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes. [Sanofi] Press Release

Caladrius Biosciences Receives FDA Fast Track Designation for CLBS03 to Treat Recent Onset Type 1 Diabetes

Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. announced that its product candidate CLBS03 (autologous expanded polyclonal regulatory T cells, or Tregs) was granted fast track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), making it the first known therapeutic candidate for treatment of T1D to receive the designation. [Caladrius Biosciences, Inc.] Press Release

Yale Receives CTSA Award Renewal to Accelerate Research Discoveries

Yale School of Medicine has been awarded $53.6 million from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to renew its five-year Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) to accelerate research discoveries that can have a positive impact on health. [Yale School of Medicine] Press Release

Scientists Seek Influence on ‘Brexit Ministry’

Worried at the prospect of losing access to EU funding and collaborations, scientific societies have fired off numerous letters asking the government to keep their country in the EU’s research system, and warning of damage already caused by Brexit. [Nature News] Editorial

Brain Implants and Gene-Editing Enhancements Worry US Public

Most people in the United States are more worried than enthusiastic about the prospect of scientific advances such as gene editing and brain-chip implants, a survey of thousands suggests. [Nature News] Editorial | Poll

Major Review Calls Time on ‘Gaming’ in UK Research Assessment

The United Kingdom’s mammoth periodic audit of its research is set for a shake-up that could change the way universities hire academics – and might also encourage scientists to spend more time on public engagement. [Nature News] Editorial

Antibiotics Funding Splurge Gets Mixed Reception

Antibiotics researchers are set to receive hundreds of millions of dollars from a new funding stream — but not everyone thinks the cash is being directed to the right place. [Nature News] Editorial

Young Blood Antiaging Trial Raises Questions

A startup company has launched the first clinical trial in the United States to test the antiaging benefits of young blood in relatively healthy people. But there’s a big caveat: It’s a pay-to-participate trial, a type that has raised ethical concerns before, most recently in the stem cell field. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Dispute over President’s Age Tears Pasteur Institute Apart

Is 65 too old to stay at the helm of a major research center? That question is sowing division at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, Science has learned, and has plunged the 128-year-old institute, home to 1200 scientists and the place where HIV was first isolated, into a leadership crisis. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

U.S. Mental Health Institute Puts Champion of Basic Science at the Helm

Up to now, Joshua Gordon has split his career between working with patients with mental illness and mice designed to mimic that illness. But this fall, the neuroscientist and psychiatrist will take control of the $1.5 billion U.S. National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. [ScienceInsider] Editorial | Press Release

NEW European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress
September 8-12, 2017
Madrid, Spain

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

NEW Research Histotechnologist I (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

NEW Postdoctoral Research Assistant – Molecular and Cellular Control of Pancreatic Islet Function (Université Catholique de Louvain)

NEW Post-Doctoral Scientist – Pancreatic Beta Cell Biology (Lilly)

PhD Positions – Chromatin and Metabolism (EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Initial Training Network)

Postdoctoral Researcher – Breast, Prostate, and Pancreatic Cancer (MD Anderson Cancer Center)

Postdoctoral Research Assistant – Pancreatic Cancer (Queen Mary University of London)

Research Program Manager – Pancreatic Cancer (University of Cambridge)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Pancreatic Cancer Biology (New York University School of Medicine)

Principal Investigator – Tenure Track Position (National Institutes of Health)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Various Projects (University of Pittsburgh)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Pancreatic Cancer Metabolism (Thomas Jefferson University)

Postdoctoral Fellows – Various Positions (Oregon Health & Science University)

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