How insulin-producing cells develop: new finding could help fight against diabetes
A British-led study has determined glucose plays a key role in enabling cells that produce insulin to develop in an embryo’s pancreas.
That discovery, said Imperial College London researchers, could lead to development of new therapies for diabetes — a condition caused by insufficient levels of insulin.
Glucose prompts a gene called Neurogenin3 to switch on another gene, known as NeuroD, which is crucial for the normal development of beta cells. If glucose levels are low that gene is not switched on.
Insulin is the principal hormone that regulates the uptake of glucose and if the beta cells are unable to produce sufficient insulin, diabetes can develop.
The British researchers, in collaboration with scientists at Necker Hospital in Paris, hope understanding how to switch on NeuroD might eventually enable researchers to create such cells from stem cells. They could then transplant beta cells into patients with type 1 diabetes.
The study appears in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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