Pancreatic Cell News 7.48 December 6, 2016 | |
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TOP STORYLong-Term GABA Administration Induces Alpha Cell-Mediated Beta-Like Cell Neogenesis Investigators report the identification of GABA as an inducer of α-to-β-like cell conversion in vivo. This conversion induces α cell replacement mechanisms through the mobilization of duct-lining precursor cells that adopt an α cell identity prior to being converted into β-like cells, solely upon sustained GABA exposure. [Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release | |
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PUBLICATIONS(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)DIABETES & PANCREATITISArtemisinins Target GABAA Receptor Signaling and Impair α Cell Identity Scientists identified artemisinins as small molecules that functionally repress Arx by causing its translocation to the cytoplasm. They showed that the protein gephyrin is the mammalian target of these antimalarial drugs and that the mechanism of action of these molecules depends on the enhancement of GABAA receptor signaling. Their results in zebrafish, rodents, and primary human pancreatic islets identify gephyrin as a druggable target for the regeneration of pancreatic β cell mass from α cells. [Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release Researchers modeled the rate of exocytosis in response to pulses of stimuli in insulin-secreting pancreatic β-cells from healthy and diabetic human donors using piecewise-constant hazard modeling. To study heterogeneity in the granule population they exploited frailty modeling, which described unobserved differences in the propensity to exocytosis. [PLoS One] Full Article Daphnetin (7, 8-dihydroxycoumarin), a natural coumarin compound, is known to exhibit antioxidant and antiflammatory effects. However, the underlying mechanisms of its anti-apoptotic and anti-diabetic effects have not yet been examined. The authors studied the anti-apoptotic and anti-diabetic effects of daphnetin by in vitro experiments. [Phytomedicine] Abstract | Graphical Abstract PANCREATIC CANCERBioengineered Tumoral Microtissues Recapitulate Desmoplastic Reaction of Pancreatic Cancer The authors reported a strategy to produce 3-dimensional in vitro microtissues of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma for studying the desmoplastic reaction activated by the stroma-cancer crosstalk. [Acta Biomater] Abstract Large-Scale Pharmacological Profiling of 3D Tumor Models of Cancer Cells Investigators sought to further understand the differences in pharmacological responses between cancer tumor cells grown in different conditions by profiling a large collection of 1912 chemotherapeutic agents. They compared pharmacological responses obtained from cells cultured in traditional 2-dimensional monolayer conditions with those responses obtained from cells forming spheres versus cells already in 3-dimensional (3D) spheres. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article Identification of KIAA1199 as a Biomarker for Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia Researchers performed in silico and immunohistochemical analyses and showed that KIAA1199 is specifically expressed in human pancreatic cancer cells and pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia, the early lesion of pancreatic cancer, in a genetically engineered mouse model and in human patient samples. [Sci Rep] Full Article Scientists showed that Hevin, SPOCKs, and SMOCs are strongly expressed within islets, ducts, and blood vessels, suggesting important roles for these proteins in the normal pancreas, while FSTL-1 expression is localized to the stromal compartment reminiscent of SPARC. [Sci Rep] Full Article The authors sought to develop cisplatin resistance in two distinct parental pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell lines, AsPC1 and BxPC3, and subsequently examined the molecular mechanisms associated with the acquired resistance. [Cancer Gene Ther] Full Article | |
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REVIEWSMyeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and Their Role in Pancreatic Cancer The authors review myeloid-derived suppressor cells and their contribution to immunosuppression within the pancreatic tumor microenvironment. [Cancer Gene Ther] Abstract T-Cell Programming in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A Review In the era of burgeoning immune therapies against previously difficult-to-treat malignancies, there has been growing interest in activating the immune system against pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA); however, unlike in other cancers such as melanoma and lymphoma, immunotherapy has not yielded many clinically significant results. To harness these mechanisms for therapeutic use, researchers review the current understanding of T-cell programming in the immune microenvironment of PDA. [Cancer Gene Ther] Abstract Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the pancreatic cell research field. | |
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SCIENCE NEWSPOXEL SA announced preclinical data supporting Imeglimin’s drug profile as a novel diabetes therapy. Imeglimin is currently being studied in a 300-patient Phase IIb clinical trial in Japan and has completed Phase II development in over 850 subjects in the US and EU. [Press release from POXEL SA discussing research presented at 14th World Congress on Insulin Resistance and Cardiovascular Diseases (WCIRDC), Los Angeles] Press Release VAXIMM AG announced that preclinical data for three of its programs. VAXIMM has a versatile technology platform that is being used to discover novel oral T-cell immunotherapies to treat a variety of cancers. The murine analogs of product candidates discussed in the poster – VXM01, VXM04 and VXM06 – encode, respectively, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, mesothelin and Wilms’ tumor 1 protein antigen. The results support their clinical findings with VXM01, with which we have seen promising results in pancreatic cancer. [Press release from VAXIMM AG discussing research presented at EORTC-NCI-AACR Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium, Munich] Press Release | |
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INDUSTRY NEWSPharmaCyte Biotech Granted FDA Pre-IND Meeting for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. announced that a Pre-Investigational New Drug (Pre-IND) meeting with the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been granted by the FDA. During the meeting with representatives from CBER, they will respond to PharmaCyte’s previously submitted questions to the FDA as part of a Pre-IND information package related to PharmaCyte’s clinical trial in locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer. [PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc.] Press Release Celprogen Inc. announced that they have successfully finished printing a 3D Pancreas from a flexible poly lactic acid material scaffold that was populated with adult human pancreatic stem cells. [Celprogen Inc.] Press Release MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. announced the expansion of the Company’s MVT-5873 Phase I clinical trial to include the HonorHealth Research Institute located in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Phase I trial is evaluating the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of MVT-5873 as a single agent or in combination with a current standard-of-care chemotherapy regimen in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The first part of the clinical trial is enrolling patients in a traditional dose escalation regimen to assess safety and determine the recommended Phase II dose of the antibody. [MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.] Press Release | |
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POLICY NEWSHelp Wanted: Canada Begins Search for Chief Science Adviser Canada has officially launched its search for a chief government science adviser, fulfilling a campaign promise by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Science Minister Kirsty Duncan announced the move on 5 December, after spending the past year consulting scientists about the exact role that such an adviser should have. [Nature News] Editorial Congress Is Poised to Back NSF’s Approach to Research Congress has reached a truce—and possibly a lasting settlement—in the fiercely partisan three-year war between Republican leaders in the House of Representatives and the scientific community over how the National Science Foundation (NSF) should operate. The terms of the agreement, between House and Senate negotiators, may seem like minor changes. But the compromise, which the Senate could adopt as early as this week, resolves differences over how NSF should conduct peer review and manage research in ways that the agency thinks it can live with. [ScienceInsider] Editorial Maryland Congressman in Running to Head NIH? Representative Andy Harris, an anesthesiologist who has shown a keen interest in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) while in Congress, has put his hat in the ring for NIH director in the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, he told ScienceInsider. Harris says he knows that some biomedical scientists would view him as a controversial choice, but argues that his blend of research and political experience would make him a good advocate for addressing NIH’s flaws and for growing the agency’s budget in a time of fiscal restraint. [ScienceInsider] Editorial
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EVENTSNEW Mouse Development, Stem Cells & Cancer Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIESNEW Principle Scientist – Translational Development (Celgene Corporation) NEW Postdoctoral Researcher – Cell Biology (Northwestern University) Senior Scientist – Pancreatic Cell Research (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.) Postdoctoral Researcher – Pancreatic Cancer (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) Postdoctoral Researcher – Diabetes Research (Karolinska Institutet) Postdoctoral Researcher – Hyperglycemia and the Pancreatic Beta-Cell (University of Oxford) Assistant Professor – Molecular Therapeutics (Dartmouth College / Geisel School of Medicine) Postdoctoral Research Associate – Structural Biology (Arizona State University) Faculty Position – Cancer Immunology (University of New Mexico) Assistant Professor – Cancer Cell Biology (North Dakota State University) Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer and Immunometabolism (The University of Michigan) Vice President – Pancreatic Cancer Disease Lead (Celgene Corporation) Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Pancreas Cancer (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.
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Home Pancreatic Cell News Volume 7.48 | Dec 6 2016