Abstract
In vivo regeneration of β cells provides hope for self-renewal of functional insulin-secreting cells following β-cell failure, a historically fatal condition now sustainable only by administration of exogenous insulin. Despite advances in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, the path toward endogenous renewal of β-cell populations has remained elusive. Intensive efforts have focused on elucidating pancreatic transcriptional programs that can drive the division and (trans-)differentiation of non-β cells to produce insulin. A surprise has been the identification of an essential role of the molecular circadian clock in the regulation of competent insulin-producing β cells. In this issue of Genes & Development, work by Petrenko and colleagues (pp. 1650-1665) now shows a requirement for the intrinsic clock in the regenerative capacity of insulin-producing cells following genetic ablation of β cells. These studies raise the possibility that enhancing core clock activity may provide an adjuvant in cell replacement therapies.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1559-1561 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Genes and Development |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 23-24 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2020 |
Keywords
- Circadian clockwork
- Diabetes
- Glucose metabolism
- Insulin-rtTA/ TET-DTA mouse model
- Pancreatic α and β cells
- β-cell proliferation
- β-cell regeneration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics
- Developmental Biology