"How Pancreatic Tumors Could Help To Fight Diabetes" - Ana Sandoiu
A new study analyzes rare tumors in which insulin-producing beta cells are produced in excess in order to find a "genetic recipe" for regenerating these cells. The findings have the potential to affect current therapeutic practices for treating diabetes. Beta cells play a crucial role in the development of diabetes. These tiny cells in the pancreas produce insulin, and a loss of beta cells is known to be a cause of type 1 diabetes. But the problem with beta cells is that they replicate in early childhood but cease to proliferate after that. However, new research conducted by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai uncovered a genomic recipe for regenerating these key cells. The study was led by Andrew Stewart, MD, director of diabetes, obesity, and metabolic institute and the professor of medicine endocrinology, diabetes and bone disease at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "In order to discover drugs that would make human pancreatic beta cells regenerate in people with diabetes, we wanted to understand how human beta cells normally replicate," said Dr. Stewart. Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz dean at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and president of academic affairs at the Mount Sinai Health System weighed in on the findings. “We are excited and gratified by these remarkable results, which reveal an extraordinary array of new and validated pathways for diabetes drug development. It is truly an exciting set of discoveries for the field of diabetes,” he said.
- Andrew Stewart, MD, Director, Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolic Institute, Professor, Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Carmen Argmann, PhD, Associate Professor, Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine of Mount Sinai
- Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System