The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing around the globe and is often linked to food choices and exercise. A key to type 2 diabetes is the dysfunction of beta cells. Beta cells reside in the pancreatic islets and are the only cells in the body that can release insulin. In type 2 diabetes, beta cells are no longer releasing insulin into the blood stream when the blood glucose levels increase. This results in high blood glucose levels, which leads to complications and damage to organs. To find preventive measures and treatments to type 2 diabetes it is essential to understand why the beta cell stops releasing insulin.
In this project, the aim is to decipher the chemical processes inside the beta cell that are responsible for the failure to release insulin in type 2 diabetes. This needs to be done in individual cells since every cell and their chemical behavior is unique. Thus, cells may have many differences within the 2 min from sensing glucose to releasing insulin. This aim is ambitious for several reasons: 1) the size of an individual cell is only 20 µm in diameter (corresponding to 0.02 mm) making them hard to handle and see; 2) the small size also means that the amount of chemistry to detect is limited and; 3) the process is dynamic and is believed to include various known and unknown metabolic pathways. Therefore, the first part of the project involves building technologies to enable detection of molecules in an individual cell using mass spectrometry. In the second part of the project, the developed techniques will be used to investigate the chemistry of individual insulin releasing cells. By ultimately using donated human beta cells the project aims to find the bottleneck in the chemical processes that are essential for insulin release. Pinpointing the bottleneck will lead to opportunities to identify ways to help those at risk or affected by type 2 diabetes.
