Protein Switch For Functional Insulin-producing Cells Found
April 13, 2016
A longstanding problem in the effort to create replacement cells for diabetic patients has been solved by scientists at the Salk Institute. The team uncovered a hidden energy switch that, when flipped, powers up pancreatic cells to respond to glucose, a step that eluded previous research.
The finding results in the production of hundreds of millions of lab-produced human beta cells able to relieve diabetes in mice.
For more than a decade, scientists across the globe sought to replace failing pancreatic beta cells linked to immune destruction in children (type 1 diabetes) or obesity-associated diabetes in adults (type 2 diabetes). Although cells made in a dish were able to produce insulin, they were sluggish or simply unable to respond to glucose.
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May 6, 2016
Previous lab findings do not tell the complete story of how the diabetes drug metformin works to limit the level of glucose in the blood, suggests a Mayo Clinic study. Researchers there found that metformin does not actually limit the action of the hormone glucagon, specifically glucagon-stimulated glucose production from the liver.
Metformin’s action is typically involved with the release of glucose from the liver.
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