Final Report Summary - BETATOBETA (The molecular basis of pancreatic beta cell replication)
The ERC project "BetaToBeta" was aimed at elucidating the fundamental mechanisms governing the replication of pancreatic beta cells. The key achievements were
1. Establishment of a novel, live reporter for replicating cells, allowing for the isolation and study or rare replicating cells (beta cells and other cell types) from their in vivo niche.
2. Identification of the key role of glucose, via glucose metabolism, in governing both beta cell replication and beta cell failure in diabetes. These findings point to potential drugs that could be used to trigger beta cell replication (most notably, small molecule glucokinase acitvators).
1. Establishment of a novel, live reporter for replicating cells, allowing for the isolation and study or rare replicating cells (beta cells and other cell types) from their in vivo niche.
2. Identification of the key role of glucose, via glucose metabolism, in governing both beta cell replication and beta cell failure in diabetes. These findings point to potential drugs that could be used to trigger beta cell replication (most notably, small molecule glucokinase acitvators).