Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Safia Costes, Gyslaine Bertrand, Magalie A. Ravier
Summary: Type 2 diabetes is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia due to functional beta-cell decline and reduced insulin sensitivity. The decrease in beta-cell mass in T2D is partly attributed to beta-cell apoptosis triggered by diabetogenic situations. This review discusses the molecular mechanisms involved in pancreatic beta-cell apoptosis in such situations and potential protective pathways by glucagon-like peptide-1-based therapies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Joseph J. Castillo, Alfred C. Aplin, Daryl J. Hackney, Meghan F. Hogan, Nathalie Esser, Andrew T. Templin, Rehana Akter, Steven E. Kahn, Daniel P. Raleigh, Sakeneh Zraika, Rebecca L. Hull
Summary: The study found that aggregation of IAPP is toxic to islet endothelial cells and induces inflammatory responses, resulting in decreased capillary density, increased capillary diameter, and an increased number of pericytes.
Article
Immunology
Hiroki Yamana, Akiko Inagaki, Takehiro Imura, Yasuhiro Nakamura, Hiroyasu Nishimaki, Takumi Katano, Kazuo Ohashi, Shigehito Miyagi, Takashi Kamei, Michiaki Unno, Masafumi Goto
Summary: The study revealed that ADSC cotransplantation can improve the engraftment of transplanted hepatocytes, potentially through the secretion of crucial factors such as hepatocyte growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, and interleukin-6 by ADSCs.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Chixiang Chen, Yuk Yee Leung, Matei Ionita, Li-San Wang, Mingyao Li
Summary: The InteRD algorithm is proposed for inferring cell-type proportions from bulk RNA-seq data. It can integrate deconvolution results from multiple scRNA-seq datasets, calibrate estimates from reference-based deconvolution, and be robust to inaccurate external information in the system. Extensive evaluations show that InteRD yields accurate and robust cell-type proportion estimates.
Article
Plant Sciences
Altaf Al-Romaiyan, Guo-Cai Huang, Peter Jones, Shanta Persaud
Summary: The traditional plant-based remedy Commiphora myrrha may directly stimulate beta-cells to increase insulin secretion in the treatment of diabetes, without compromising plasma membrane integrity.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Omer Revah, Felicity Gore, Kevin W. Kelley, Jimena Andersen, Noriaki Sakai, Xiaoyu Chen, Min-Yin Li, Fikri Birey, Xiao Yang, Nay L. Saw, Samuel W. Baker, Neal D. Amin, Shravanti Kulkarni, Rachana Mudipalli, Bianxiao Cui, Seiji Nishino, Gerald A. Grant, Juliet K. Knowles, Mehrdad Shamloo, John R. Huguenard, Karl Deisseroth, Sergiu P. Pasca
Summary: This study demonstrates the potential of transplanting self-organizing neural organoids derived from human stem cells into the somatosensory cortex of rats to develop mature cell types and integrate into sensory and motivation-related circuits. The transplanted cortical neurons exhibit more complex properties than their in vitro counterparts and can drive reward-seeking behavior when optogenetically activated. This approach has the potential to detect circuit-level phenotypes in patient-derived cells that cannot be uncovered using other methods.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Asra Nasir Khan, Rizwan Hasan Khan
Summary: This passage discusses the importance of proteins in cell functions and the potential consequences of protein misfolding and aggregation. It also highlights the current limitations in therapeutic approaches for protein misfolding diseases and the recent development of new treatment strategies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2022)
Editorial Material
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Gaowei Wang, Maike Sander
Summary: Pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction is a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, human islet studies have shown inconsistent molecular changes in T2DM. A new multi-omics study aims to overcome these limitations and identify T2DM-associated molecular changes by analyzing islets from well-phenotyped living donors.
NATURE REVIEWS ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hien Lau, Shiri Li, Nicole Corrales, Samuel Rodriguez, Mohammadreza Mohammadi, Michael Alexander, Paul de Vos, Jonathan Lakey
Summary: Nec-1 supplementation has positive effects on both the in vitro and in vivo function of isolated PPIs, especially when added on day 3 of culture. It significantly improves islet recovery, proliferation and differentiation of endocrine cells. The use of Nec-1 can shorten time to normoglycemia, improve glycemic control, and increase circulating insulin levels.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jozef Adamcik, Francesco Simone Ruggeri, Joshua T. Berryman, Afang Zhang, Tuomas P. J. Knowles, Raffaele Mezzenga
Summary: The nanomechanical properties and structural transitions of amyloid fibrils and microcrystals can be unraveled at the single aggregate scale using single molecule nanomechanical mapping and infrared nanospectroscopy techniques. Different morphologies of amyloid aggregates exhibit varying Young's moduli, with stiffness correlated to the content of intermolecular hydrogen bonding and the structure transition process.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Anna Voronova, Alexandre Barras, Valerie Plaisance, Valerie Pawlowski, Rabah Boukherroub, Amar Abderrahmani, Sabine Szunerits
Summary: Pancreatic islet amyloid deposition is a pathological feature of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) that reduces functional beta-cell mass. This study reveals the interplay between high glucose concentrations and palmitate in the aggregation of hIAPP. It also demonstrates the formation of toxic protein aggregates through the interaction of hIAPP and A beta 42. Carbon quantum dots can prevent the formation of amyloid aggregates and heterocomplexes.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Manon Jaffredo, Eleonore Bertin, Antoine Pirog, Emilie Puginier, Julien Gaitan, Sandra Oucherif, Fanny Lebreton, Domenico Bosco, Bogdan Catargi, Daniel Cattaert, Sylvie Renaud, Jochen Lang, Matthieu Raoux
Summary: Biphasic activity in islet beta-cells is regulated by multicellular electrical signals and dynamic synchronization between beta-cells, contributing to glucose homeostasis. Different organizational modes exist in the first and second phase of islet activity, with small active beta-cell clusters dominating the first phase and large functional clusters formed by electrical coupling in the second phase. Factors like glucagon-like peptide 1, aging, and glucotoxicity influence the coupling activity and may contribute to functional deficits in type 2 diabetes.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Qing Cheng, Xiaoli Ma, Jingjing Liu, Xuemei Feng, Yan Liu, Yanxia Wang, Wenwen Ni, Mingke Song
Summary: Stem-cell-based therapy shows promise for Alzheimer's disease, but faces challenges due to the transplantation microenvironment. Inflammation and amyloid-beta peptides in the AD brains hinder the survival and efficacy of transplanted stem cells. AEP inhibition improves the brain microenvironment, enhancing the survival and therapeutic efficacy of transplanted neural stem cells.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Sulatskaya, Anastasiia O. Kosolapova, Alexander G. Bobylev, Mikhail Belousov, Kirill S. Antonets, Maksim Sulatsky, Irina M. Kuznetsova, Konstantin K. Turoverov, Olesya Stepanenko, Anton A. Nizhnikov
Summary: Both amyloids and beta-barrel proteins have beta-sheet-rich structures, with the latter being able to form functional amyloids in vivo. These beta-barrel amyloid proteins can interact with each other and form toxic oligomers, potentially contributing to the development of amyloidoses. Rapidly growing discoveries suggest that the number and diversity of functions of amyloid-forming beta-barrel proteins are significantly greater than currently understood.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hong Wang, Marko Z. Vatamaniuk, Zeping Zhao, Xin Gen Lei
Summary: Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between the expression and function of Reg family genes and antioxidant enzymes in pancreatic islets and human pancreatic cells. We found that altering the Gpx1 and Sod1 genes in mice affected the expression of most Reg genes in islets. In addition, REG2 protein inhibited islet proliferation in mice with Gpx1 or Sod1 alterations, and treating human pancreatic cells with murine REG2 protein affected gene expression, enzyme activities, and cell viability.
