Measurements of insulin secretory capacity and glucose tolerance to predict pancreatic -cell mass in vivo in the nicotinamide/streptozotocin Gttingen minipig, a model of moderate insulin deficiency and diabetes . Diabetes 2003 ; 52 : 118 123 .
To determine -cell mass more precisely, sensitive methods to quantify -cell mass in the in vivo situation are required.
Here, we demonstrate for the first time that combining a DYRK1A inhibitor with a GLP1R agonist increases actual human beta cell numbers and overall mass in vivo by 400-700% in diabetic and non-diabetic mice over three months.
Current clinical methods to measure human beta cell mass and/or function are largely lacking, indirect and sub-optimal, highlighting the continued need for noninvasive in vivo beta cell imaging technologies such as optical imaging techniques.
Accelerating the in vivo maturation of macro-encapsulated human embryonic stem cell derived-pancreatic progenitor cells by manipulating NKX6.1 expression in culture.
Until non-invasive imaging techniques become available, -cell mass in vivo is usually estimated by measuring insulin secretion during intravenous glucose infusion.
This Perspectives in Diabetes addresses the accuracy of metabolic testing as a measure of pancreatic islet -cell mass in vivo in animals and in humans.
In understanding how cell mass is established, maintained, and altered, new therapeutic targets will be identified for the treatment of diabetes. Ultimately, the processes of cell neogenesis, replication, and survival will likely be controlled in vivo as a means to reverse or prevent diabetes.
