Preserving beta-cell mass and expansion is a key point in diabetes. Prolonged hyperglycemia may lead to glucose toxicity, which impairs insulin production and secretion, promoting a cycle with increasing glucose concentrations that promote a decline of beta-cell function and eventually their death.
Pre-existing insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells, but not their progenitors, have been shown to contribute to new beta cells in the adult pancreas, according to a Chinese study led by scientists at the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
So far, the excitement surrounding “living drugs” is that of pioneer work, with the Carl June and Steve Rosenberg playing the roles of Lewis and Clark or the Wright brothers.