pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor from a 12-week-old mouse, with tumor β-cells stained red and the surrounding exocrine tissue stained blue. Eliane Cortez et al. found that deleting the gene for platelet-derived growth factor DD (PDGF-DD) delayed tumor growth in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer, and that PDGF-DD stimulated proliferation of pancreatic β-tumor cells by binding to a subset of tumo...

Pancreatic β cells are sensitive to oxidative stress, which is one of the predominant causes of cell damage and the emergence of diabetes. The identification of effective therapeutic strategies to protect pancreatic cells from oxidative stress has increased interest in the screening of antioxidants from natural products. The present study aimed to investigate the protective effects of morin aga...

The transcriptional co-regulator host cell factor-1 (HCF-1) plays critical roles in promoting cell cycle progression in diverse cell types, and in maintaining self-renewal of embryonic stem cells, but its role in pancreatic β-cell function has not been investigated. Immunhistochemistry of mouse pancreas revealed nuclear expression of HCF-1 in pancreatic islets. Reducing HCF-1 expression in the ...

Human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells are considered a potential source for the generation of insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells because of their differentiation capacity. In this study, we have developed a five-step xeno-free culture system to efficiently differentiate hiPS cells into insulin-producing cells in vitro. We found that a high NOGGIN concentration is crucial for specificall...

OBJECTIVE Class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs) belong to a large family of enzymes involved in protein deacetylation and play a role in regulating gene expression and cell differentiation. Previously, we showed that HDAC inhibitors modify the timing and determination of pancreatic cell fate. The aim of this study was to determine the role of class IIa HDACs in pancreas development. RESEARCH...

Leptin is a pivotal regulator of energy and glucose homeostasis, and defects in leptin signaling result in obesity and diabetes. The ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels couple glucose metabolism to insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells. In this study, we provide evidence that leptin modulates pancreatic β-cell functions by promoting K(ATP) channel translocation to the plasma membrane vi...

To determine if the murine insulinoma, β-TC-6, is a suitable substitute for primary pancreatic β-cells in the study of βcell functional heterogeneity, we used three distinct functional assays to ascertain the cell line’s response to glucose or a glucose analog. These assays include: (i) a 2-NBDG uptake assay; (ii) a calcium influx assay, and; (iii) a quinacrine secretion assay. We show that a p...

Diabetes affects millions of people worldwide, and β-cell replacement is one of the promising new strategies for treatment. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can differentiate into any cell type, including pancreatic β cells, providing a potential treatment for diabetes. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the differentiation of iPSC-derived β cells have not yet been fully elucida...

B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family proteins are established regulators of cell survival, but their involvement in the normal function of primary cells has only recently begun to receive attention. In this study, we demonstrate that chemical and genetic loss-of-function of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) significantly augments glucose-dependent metabolic and Ca(2+) signals in primary pancreatic β...