Pancreas News and Research

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The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as an exocrine gland, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that pass to the small intestine. These enzymes help in the further breakdown of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the chyme.

Stem Cells Used to Create Tooth Enamel in the Lab

Organoids have now been created from stem cells to secrete the proteins that form dental enamel, the substance that protects teeth from damage and decay.

16 Aug 2023

New Protein Found to be Key to Proper Functioning of Acinar Cells

The energy supply in the body has been regulated by the pancreas, located behind the stomach. This mechanism happens by secreting proteins (enzymes) accountable for glucose–the body’s primary fuel–reaching other organs when needed and in the exact amount.

24 Jul 2023

T-Cell Analysis for Type 1 Diabetes Preventive Therapy

Scripps Researchers have found that looking at a certain type of immune cell in the blood can help pinpoint those who are most vulnerable to acquiring type 1 diabetes, a fatal autoimmune disease

20 Jul 2023

Dad’s Genes “Remote Control” Mom’s Metabolism to Benefit Fetus

The unborn baby “remote controls” its mother’s metabolism, resulting in a nutritional tug-of-war between the two. The mother’s body requires the baby to survive, but she also needs enough glucose and fats in her system to be able to deliver the baby, breastfeed, and reproduce again.

12 Jul 2023

Glucose-Sensing Neurons May Play a Role in Regulating Blood Sugar

The body's blood glucose level needs to be maintained in a relatively narrow range. It cannot be too high, as it can lead to diabetes, and it cannot be too low because it can cause fainting or even death.

12 Jul 2023

Glutaminase 2 Plays a Key Role in Glucose Homeostasis

Glutaminase 2 (GLS2) is a master regulator of glutaminolysis. GLS2 converts glutamine to glutamate, thereby playing a role in cellular energy production. GLS2 is abundant in the liver, and is also found in pancreatic β-cells. However, the role of GLS2 in pancreatic islets – in which both ɑ- and β- cells are present – associated with glucose metabolism is currently unknown.

6 Jul 2023

Charting a High-Resolution Roadmap for Regeneration of Pancreatic β Cells

At the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health (SINH) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a research group headed by Professor Zhen Shao and the collaborators plotted a high-resolution roadmap for the process of pancreatic β cell regeneration by in vivo transdifferentiation from adult acinar cells with the help of a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology.

31 May 2023

Determining Disease Progression in Patients with Recent-Onset Type 1 Diabetes

A gene expression signature that has the potential to forecast the advance of type 1 diabetes has been determined by scientists from Turku Bioscience Centre and InFLAMES Flagship at the University of Turku in Finland.

30 May 2023

Fructose is Needed for Enhanced Egg Production in Fruit Flies, Study Reveals

To many people, the sugars we eat may seem like a luxury that can do more harm than good. But now, researchers from Japan have discovered that in insects, dietary sugars play a key role in reproduction.

25 May 2023

Understanding How Cell-to-Cell Communication Networks Drive Pancreatic Cancer Development

Discussions of cancer often stress the genetic mutations that drive disease by altering the normal function of cellular proteins.

12 May 2023

Researchers Map GCK Gene Variants to Better Diagnose Hereditary Diseases

Researchers at the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, have now contributed to solving this problem for a specific gene called GCK. The study has just been published in Genome Biology.

4 May 2023

Gut Microbiome and Enhanced Tumor Immune Response in Pancreatic Cancer Survivors

Even as pancreatic cancer treatments advance, only around 9% of patients live beyond five years. Scientists have failed to identify genetic distinctions that explain why some patients live for a long time and others do not, so they have moved their emphasis to the gut microbiome.

5 Apr 2023

Designing a Lipid Nanoparticle to Safely Deliver mRNA to the Pancreas

Therapeutics that use mRNA-;like some of the COVID-19 vaccines-;have enormous potential for the prevention and treatment of many diseases.

4 Apr 2023

Two subtypes of cells that produce insulin discovered

A team of scientists from the Van Andel Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics uncovered two unique subtypes of insulin-producing beta cells, or ß cells, each having important traits that could potentially be used to better understand and treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

30 Mar 2023

BetaLife and A*STAR team up to accelerate the development of new cell-based therapy for diabetes

Up-and-coming local biotech startup BetaLife Pte Ltd ("BetaLife") is collaborating with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to accelerate the development of next generation cell-based therapy for diabetes.

22 Mar 2023

Keck Medicine of USC launches clinical trial investigating innovative procedure to control Type 2 diabetes

More than 37 million Americans have diabetes, and approximately 90-95% have Type 2 diabetes.

21 Mar 2023

Losing a productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes

Multiple types of beta cells produce insulin in the pancreas, helping to balance blood sugar levels. Losing a particularly productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

17 Mar 2023