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Human insulin-secreting beta cells under the microscope. (Millman Laboratory) A technique capable of converting human stem cells into insulin-producing cells could hold huge promise for future diabetic treatments, if results seen in a recent experiment with mice can be successfully replicated in humans. In a 2020 study, researchers figured out a new way to coax human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into pancreatic beta cells that make insulin. When these insulin-producing cells were transplanted into mice induced to have an acute form of diabetes, their condition was rapidly cured. "These mice had very severe diabetes with blood sugar readings of more...

Model of insulin inhibitory receptor ‘inceptor’ (in black) desensetizing the insulin recptor (in color) on a pancreatic beta cell. Insulin in blue. Credit: Helmholtz Zentrum München ======================================================== Researchers have discovered a novel and druggable insulin inhibitory receptor, named inceptor. The latest study from Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, the Technical University of Munich, and the German Center for Diabetes Research is a significant milestone for diabetes research as the scientific community celebrates 100 years of insulin and 50 years of insulin receptor discovery. The blocking of inceptor function leads to an increased sensitization of the insulin signaling pathway in pancreatic beta cells....