The islet of Langerhans is a unique micro-organ within the exocrine pancreas, which is composed of insulin-secreting beta-cells, glucagon-secreting alpha-cells, somatostatin-secreting delta-cells, pancreatic polypeptide-secreting PP cells and ghrelin-secreting epsilon-cells. Islets also contain non-endocrine cell types such as endothelial cells. However, the mechanism(s) of islet formation is p...

A small molecule, protein mimetic based approach is shown to specifically inhibit lipid catalysed self-assembly of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP). The lipid-bound oligomerization of this peptide is implicated in cellular dysfunction of insulin secreting β-cells in type II diabetes.

conclusions we described a rare case of a usually aggressive thyroid angiosarcoma in a patient living in a non-alpine region, with an unusual favorable outcome after the operation and radiotherapy. case presentation an asymptomatic 61-year-old woman presented with a right lobe thyroid nodule with fine needle aspiration cytology indicating “suspicious for malignancy” was reported in our study. h...

Vitamin D deficiency (i.e., hypovitaminosis D) is associated with increased insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion, and poorly controlled glucose homeostasis, and thus is correlated with the risk of metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The liver plays key roles in glucose and lipid metabolism, and its dysregulation leads to abnormalities in hepatic glucose outp...

Inhibition of the potassium channels TREK-1 by spadin (SPA) is currently thought to be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of depression. Since these channels are expressed in pancreatic β-cells, we investigated their role in the control of insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis. In this study, we confirmed the expression of TREK-1 channels in the insulin secreting MIN6-B1 β-cel...

An impressive body of epidemiologic data collected over the past decade indicates that the risk of colon cancer is elevated in those with metabolic syndrome. This evidence includes studies that examined the risk of colon cancer or adenoma in relation to determinants of the metabolic syndrome (obesity, abdominal distribution of adiposity, and physical inactivity), clinical consequences of this s...

Islet-brain 1 (IB1) is the human and rat homologue of JIP-1, a scaffold protein interacting with the c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK). IB1 expression is mostly restricted to the endocrine pancreas and to the central nervous system. Herein, we explored the transcriptional mechanism responsible for this preferential islet and neuronal expression of IB1. A 731-bp fragment of the 5' regulatory reg...