Pancreas News and Research

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The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as an exocrine gland, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that pass to the small intestine. These enzymes help in the further breakdown of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the chyme.

Fructose is Needed for Enhanced Egg Production in Fruit Flies, Study Reveals

To many people, the sugars we eat may seem like a luxury that can do more harm than good. But now, researchers from Japan have discovered that in insects, dietary sugars play a key role in reproduction.

25 May 2023

Understanding How Cell-to-Cell Communication Networks Drive Pancreatic Cancer Development

Discussions of cancer often stress the genetic mutations that drive disease by altering the normal function of cellular proteins.

12 May 2023

Researchers Map GCK Gene Variants to Better Diagnose Hereditary Diseases

Researchers at the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, have now contributed to solving this problem for a specific gene called GCK. The study has just been published in Genome Biology.

4 May 2023

Gut Microbiome and Enhanced Tumor Immune Response in Pancreatic Cancer Survivors

Even as pancreatic cancer treatments advance, only around 9% of patients live beyond five years. Scientists have failed to identify genetic distinctions that explain why some patients live for a long time and others do not, so they have moved their emphasis to the gut microbiome.

5 Apr 2023

Designing a Lipid Nanoparticle to Safely Deliver mRNA to the Pancreas

Therapeutics that use mRNA-;like some of the COVID-19 vaccines-;have enormous potential for the prevention and treatment of many diseases.

4 Apr 2023

Two subtypes of cells that produce insulin discovered

A team of scientists from the Van Andel Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics uncovered two unique subtypes of insulin-producing beta cells, or ß cells, each having important traits that could potentially be used to better understand and treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

30 Mar 2023

BetaLife and A*STAR team up to accelerate the development of new cell-based therapy for diabetes

Up-and-coming local biotech startup BetaLife Pte Ltd ("BetaLife") is collaborating with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to accelerate the development of next generation cell-based therapy for diabetes.

22 Mar 2023

Keck Medicine of USC launches clinical trial investigating innovative procedure to control Type 2 diabetes

More than 37 million Americans have diabetes, and approximately 90-95% have Type 2 diabetes.

21 Mar 2023

Losing a productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes

Multiple types of beta cells produce insulin in the pancreas, helping to balance blood sugar levels. Losing a particularly productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

17 Mar 2023

Artificial pancreas helps improve blood sugar control in children with type 1 diabetes

An artificial pancreas originally developed at the University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology improves blood sugar control in children ages 2 to 6 with type 1 diabetes, according to a new study.

16 Mar 2023

Study examines the role of dietary vitamin A in preventing or treating AAP

Consuming a diet rich in vitamin A or its analogs may help prevent children and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) reduce their risk of developing painful pancreas inflammation during chemotherapy treatment.

16 Mar 2023

Study: Oral verapamil improves the pancreas' insulin secretion in children with newly-diagnosed TID

Published in JAMA, a University of Minnesota led study shows that verapamil, a drug commonly used to treat high blood pressure and heart conditions, can have a beneficial effect on the pancreas in children with newly-diagnosed type 1 diabetes (T1D).

27 Feb 2023

Metabolic reactions upon activating Akt2 enzyme revealed

Takeaki Ozawa and his team from the University of Tokyo reveal the metabolic reactions upon activating an enzyme called Akt2.

22 Feb 2023

Review highlights the pathological significance of CEACAM1, 5, and 6

A new review was published in Genes & Cancer on February 1, 2023, entitled, "CEACAMS 1, 5, and 6 in disease and cancer: interactions with pathogens."

14 Feb 2023

Pancreatic islet microexons play key role in islet function and glucose homeostasis

When cells copy DNA to produce RNA transcripts, they include only some chunks of genetic material known as exons and throw out the rest.

10 Feb 2023

The correlation between Type 2 diabetes and human microRNAs

Although it has long been believed that microRNA (miRNA) molecules in pancreatic islets play significant roles in Type 2 diabetes, no specific miRNAs have been definitively linked to the disease in humans.

10 Feb 2023

Massive clinical study on type 1 diabetes patients

A massive clinical study on an approved psoriasis drug is now underway. The drug will be tested on people who have just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The drug, according to the theory, could preserve the patient’s remaining insulin production.

30 Jan 2023

Georgia Tech researchers develop a new biomaterial that could cure Type 1 diabetes

Insulin injections to treat Type 1 diabetes could become a thing of the past, but finding the cure faces many challenges.

4 Nov 2022

DNA-based nanotransporters could improve treatment of cancers, other diseases

A team of Canadian researchers from Université de Montréal has designed and validated a new class of drug transporters made of DNA that are 20,000 times smaller than a human hair and that could improve how cancers and other diseases are treated.

2 Nov 2022

Bacterial warfare in the gut can have collateral beneficial effects

Nearly ten years ago, a graduate student at UO Jennifer Hampton Hill stumbled upon something fortunate: a peptide produced by gut bacteria that prompted the division of cells that make insulin.

17 Oct 2022