September 3, 2024 by University of Geneva Pancreatic islets from adult mice. On the left, islet composed of different types of endocrine cells. Right: pancreatic islet composed solely of beta cells. Credit: Laboratoire Pedro Herrera – UNIGEOur glycemic balance is based on the ability of the pancreatic beta cells to detect glucose and secrete insulin...
BY JOSEPH GUSTAITIS | MARCH 24, 2023 One of the difficulties of diabetes is that it causes the progressive loss of beta cells in the pancreas. Beta cells create, store, and release insulin, and insulin controls the amount of glucose, or sugar, in the blood. Without enough beta cells, blood sugar can get out of control. Beta cells have been...
by American Physiological Society High-resolution model of six insulin molecules assembled in a hexamer. Credit: Isaac Yonemoto/Wikipedia Physiologists at the Medical College of Wisconsin have identified the enzyme thioredoxin reductase as playing a key role in protecting beta cells from oxidative stress and in the regulation of insulin secretion. Researchers also show in this study that...
by Yale University Yale pharmacology professor Barbara Ehrlich and her team have uncovered a mechanism driving a rare, lethal disease called Wolfram Syndrome and also a potential treatment. Their findings appear in the July 6 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Wolfram Syndrome—a progressive degenerative disease that affects about one in 500,000...
The islets of Langerhans in the human pancreas produce and release insulin to regulate blood glucose levels. Insulin, which is specifically produced in b-cells, serves to prompt cells to take up glucose circulating in blood. Thus, insulin release lowers the level of glucose in blood. In diabetes, this cycle is disrupted by the premature death...
