Objective(s):Some pathologic situations such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome are associated with alternation in nitric oxide level. Incidence of these condition increases with aging. On the other hand, insulin secretion is modulated by nitric oxide, and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity is also altered in diabetes. In this study, modification in the enzyme activity associated with aging a...

Background In patients with unstable type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), allogeneic pancreatic islet transplantation is a therapeutic option to restore insulin secretion and improve metabolic control. However, the success of islet transplantation is dependent on the number and quality of isolated islets. It is known that the inflammatory environment related to the donor’s brain-death (BD) and the s...

Amyloid formation and mitochondrial dysfunction are characteristics of type 2 diabetes. The major peptide constituent of the amyloid deposits in type 2 diabetes is islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP). In this study, we found that pitrilysin, a zinc metallopeptidase of the inverzincin family, degrades monomeric, but not oligomeric, islet amyloid polypeptide in vitro. In insulinoma cells when pitril...

Transplantation of macroencapsulated pancreatic islets within semipermeable membranes is a promising approach for the treatment type 1 diabetes. Encapsulation beneficially isolates implants from host immune system. Deleteriously however, it also limits oxygen supply to cells. This creates challenges in loading at amount and density required meet practical demands clinical usage. To overcome thi...

AIMS Allogeneic bone marrow (BM) has been shown to support human islet survival and function in long-term culture by initiating human islet vascularization and β-cell regeneration. Various BM subpopulations may play different roles in human islet functions and survival. In this paper we investigated the effects of BM and its subpopulations, endothelial progenitor cells (E) and mesenchymal (M) c...

Replacement of insulin production by pancreatic islet transplantation has great potential as a therapy for type 1 diabetes mellitus. At present, the lack of an effective approach to islet grafts assessment limits the success of this treatment. The development of molecular imaging techniques has the potential to fulfill the goal of real-time noninvasive monitoring of the functional status and vi...

We have produced a murine monoclonal antibody (F43 A1D2) that binds to the cell surface of both rat islet tumor cells (RINm clone 5F and RINm clone 14B) and normal rat islet cells. This antibody is cytotoxic in the presence of complement for RIN tumor cells as well as A, B, and D pancreatic polypeptide rat islet cells. Antibody A1D2 does not bind to rat thymus cells, pancreatic acinar cells, or...

Type-2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex disease characterized by insulin resistance in target tissues and impaired insulin release from pancreatic beta cells. As central tissue of glucose homeostasis, the pancreatic islet continues to be an important focus of research to understand the pathophysiology of the disease. The increased access to human pancreatic islets has resulted in improved knowledge ...