Researchers Find Novel Mechanism Regulating Replication of Insulin-Producing Beta Cells for Diabetes Treatment

Bringing scientists a step closer to new treatments for diabetes, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and The Mount Sinai Medical Center have discovered a novel mechanism that regulates the replication of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The findings were recently published online ahead of print in Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.

Regenerating beta cells to restore insulin production has moved to center stage in the quest for therapies for both type 1 and 2 diabetes, said lead author Nathalie Fiaschi-Taesch, Ph.D., assistant professor, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Pitt School of Medicine.

“Ideally, we would be able to do this by collecting cells from donor pancreatic tissue and growing them in the lab or better yet, giving a patient a pill to stimulate their own beta cells to replicate,” she said. “In the past, this has proven to be very challenging. Our findings provide new insights into how one may be able to do this. ”