Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PanCa) is an extremely lethal disease characterized by mutations of p53 in up to 70% of cases. Our previous studies have confirmed that hyperglycemia may be the first clinical manifestation for the early diagnosis of PanCa. In this article, we showed that targeted knockdown of TG2 or p53 in tumor cells led to decreased cell survival in response to glucose depri...

introduction: type i diabetes mellitus is caused by autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing β-cells. a new potential method for curing the disease is transplantation of differentiated insulin- secreting cells from human embryonic stem cells. methods: human embryonic stem cell lines (royan h1) were used to produce embryoid bodies. differentiation carried out by growth factor-mediated sel...

OBJECTIVE Insulin release from pancreatic β-cells is controlled by plasma glucose levels via mitochondrial fuel metabolism. Therefore, insulin secretion is critically dependent on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the genes it encodes. Mitochondrial transcription factor B2 (TFB2M) controls transcription of mitochondrial-encoded genes. However, its precise role in mitochondrial metabolism in pancrea...

A physio-pathological feature of diabetes mellitus is a significant reduction of β-pancreatic cells. The growth, differentiation and function maintenance of these cells is directed by transcription factors. Nkx6.1 is a key transcription factor for the differentiation, neogenesis and maintenance of β-pancreatic cells. We reported that silymarin restores normal morphology and endocrine function o...

Replenishing the insulin-producing β-cell mass is considered to be a potential cure for diabetes. A recent study identified a secreted protein, known as betatrophin, which potently induces pancreatic β-cell proliferation. Notably, a number of studies reportedly identified betatrophin, which is also known as lipasin, atypical angiopoietin-like 8 and refeeding-induced fat and liver protein, and c...

BACKGROUND In vitro experiments using only β-cell lines instead of islets are limited because pancreatic islets are composed of four different types of endocrine cells. Several recent studies have focused on cellular interactions among these cell types, especially α- and β-cells. Because islet isolation needs time and experience, we tested a simple co-culture system with α- and β-cells. Their m...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a poor prognostic cancer, commonly develops following activating mutations in the KRAS oncogene. Activation of WNT signaling is also commonly observed in PDAC. To ascertain the impact of postnatal activation of WNT-stimulated signaling pathways in PDAC development, we combined the Elastase-tva-based RCAS-TVA pancreatic cancer model with the established L...

FH535 is a small-molecule inhibitor of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which a substantial body of evidence has proven is activated in various cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays an important role in tumor progression and metastasis. We investigated the inhibitory effect of FH535 on the metastasis and growth of pancreatic cancer cells. Wester...

OBJECTIVE β-Cell dysfunction plays a central role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2D), and the identification of novel approaches to improve β-cell function is essential to treat this disease. Baicalein, a flavonoid originally isolated from the root of Scutellaria Baicalensis, has been shown to have beneficial effects on β-cell function. Here, the authors investigated the molecular mec...

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...