Islets of Langerhans articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article |

    Integration of multiomics data with functional analysis of pancreatic tissues from individuals with early-stage type 2 diabetes indicates that the genetic risk converges on RFX6, which regulates chromatin architecture at multiple risk loci.

    • John T. Walker
    • , Diane C. Saunders
    •  & Marcela Brissova

  • Letter |

    Circadian rhythms control many physiological functions. During periods of feeding, pancreatic islets secrete insulin to maintain glucose homeostasis — a rhythmic process that is disturbed in people with diabetes. These authors show that pancreatic islets contain their own clock: they have self-sustained circadian oscillations of CLOCK and BMAL1 genes and proteins, which are vital for the regulation of circadian rhythms. Without this clock, a cascade of cellular failure and pathology initiates the onset of diabetes mellitus.

    • Biliana Marcheva
    • , Kathryn Moynihan Ramsey
    •  & Joseph Bass

  • News & Views |

    Most insulin-secreting pancreatic β-cells are irreplaceably lost in type 1 diabetes. In a mouse model, pancreatic α-cells seem to sacrifice their identity to replenish the low stock of β-cells1. Two experts discuss what this means for understanding the basic cell biology involved and its relevance to treating diabetes.boxed-text

    • Kenneth S. Zaret
    •  & Morris F. White

  • Article |

    In the pancreas, insulin-producing β-cells are long-lived and generally replicate seldom. They can do so, however, after increased metabolic demand or after injury. Here, a new transgenic model is developed in which β-cells are nearly completely ablated in mice. If given insulin, these mice survive, and grow new β-cells. Lineage-tracing shows that these new β-cells come from α-cells, revealing a previously disregarded degree of pancreatic cell plasticity.

    • Fabrizio Thorel
    • , Virginie Népote
    •  & Pedro L. Herrera

  • Article |

    Pancreatic β-cells release insulin, which controls energy homeostasis in vertebrates, and its lack causes diabetes mellitus. The transcription factor neurogenin 3 (Neurog3) initiates differentiation of β-cells and other islet cell types from pancreatic endoderm; here, the transcription factor Rfx6 is shown to direct islet cell differentiation downstream of Neurog3 in mice and humans. This may be useful in efforts to generate β-cells for patients with diabetes.

    • Stuart B. Smith
    • , Hui-Qi Qu
    •  & Michael S. German

Browse broader subjects

Browse Islets of Langerhans across other nature.com journals