Insulin signalling articles within Nature Cell Biology

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• News & Views | 27 April 2023

  A guide from the stomach to β cells

  Direct conversions offer an alternative approach to generate insulin-producing cells for cell therapy in diabetes. A study reports a method to convert human stomach-derived gastric stem cells into functional insulin-producing cells through a unique differentiation path.

  • Jinhyuk Choi
  • , Fritz Cayabyab
  •  & Eiji Yoshihara

• Article | 16 March 2023

  A beta cell subset with enhanced insulin secretion and glucose metabolism is reduced in type 2 diabetes

  Rubio-Navarro et al. identify a subset of pancreatic beta cells marked by high CD63 levels with enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. CD63-high beta cells are diminished in mouse models of and in humans with type 2 diabetes.

  • Alfonso Rubio-Navarro
  • , Nicolás Gómez-Banoy
  •  & James C. Lo

• Article | 30 May 2022

  Cancer-cell-secreted extracellular vesicles suppress insulin secretion through miR-122 to impair systemic glucose homeostasis and contribute to tumour growth

  Cao et al. show that miR-122 encapsulated in breast cancer-derived extracellular vesicles targets PKM to downregulate β-cell insulin secretion, leading to dysregulated glucose homeostasis and enhanced tumour growth.

  • Minghui Cao
  • , Roi Isaac
  •  & Shizhen Emily Wang

• Article | 22 October 2018

  Pancreatic islet-autonomous insulin and smoothened-mediated signalling modulate identity changes of glucagon⁺ α-cells

  Cigliola et al. show that β-cell loss activates insulin production in a small number of α-cells and that insulin and Hedgehog signalling actively maintain and enforce the α-cell fate.

  • Valentina Cigliola
  • , Luiza Ghila
  •  & Pedro L. Herrera

• Article | 24 April 2017

  SWELL1 is a regulator of adipocyte size, insulin signalling and glucose homeostasis

  Sah and colleagues show that the volume-sensitive ion channel SWELL1 regulates adipocyte insulin-PI(3)K-AKT2 signalling, glucose uptake and lipid content through interactions with GRB2/Cav1.

  • Yanhui Zhang
  • , Litao Xie
  •  & Rajan Sah

• Letter | 06 February 2017

  Insulin-like signalling to the maternal germline controls progeny response to osmotic stress

  Burton et al. show that Caenorhabditis elegans parental exposure to osmotic stress protects progeny from osmotic stress through insulin-like signalling, linking maternal germline signalling to progeny metabolism.

  • Nicholas O. Burton
  • , Tokiko Furuta
  •  & H. Robert Horvitz

• Letter | 22 February 2016

  Dicer1–miR-328–Bace1 signalling controls brown adipose tissue differentiation and function

  Kornfeld and colleagues identify miRNAs that are dysregulated in brown adipose tissue in mouse models of obesity and ageing, and show that miR-328 targets Bace1 to promote brown adipogenesis.

  • Matteo Oliverio
  • , Elena Schmidt
  •  & Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld

• News & Views | 28 February 2014

  SIK2 regulates insulin secretion

  Correct regulation of insulin secretion by the pancreas is crucial for organismal function and survival. The AMPK-related kinase SIK2 (salt-inducible kinase 2) is now shown to be stabilized in pancreatic β-cells following glucose stimulation, leading to improved systemic glucose homeostasis by regulating cellular calcium flux and insulin secretion.

  • Bengt-Frederik Belgardt
  •  & Markus Stoffel

• Article | 23 February 2014

  Role of the SIK2–p35–PJA2 complex in pancreatic β-cell functional compensation

  Screaton and colleagues delineate a pathway involving the AMPK-related Sik2 kinase using mouse models. They show that Sik2-mediated phosphorylation and subsequent degradation of CDK5R1 (p35) by PJA2 is needed for glucose-induced insulin secretion and β-cell functional compensation in models of hyperglycemia and obesity.

  • Jun-Ichi Sakamaki
  • , Accalia Fu
  •  & Robert A. Screaton

• News & Views | 03 October 2012

  Integrating insulin secretion and ER stress in pancreatic β-cells

  After food consumption, insulin-secreting pancreatic β-cells detect increased glucose and incretin hormones, and respond by releasing insulin. Wolfram syndrome 1, a protein that mitigates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, is now shown to regulate insulin synthesis and release — revealing a molecular point of convergence between the ER stress and insulin release pathways.

  • Katleen Lemaire
  •  & Frans Schuit

• Letter | 11 March 2012

  Direct sensing of systemic and nutritional signals by haematopoietic progenitors in Drosophila

  Haematopoietic progenitor activity in the Drosophila lymph gland can respond to stress. Banerjee and colleagues show that systemic insulin and nutritional signals maintain these progenitors by modulating Wingless-dependent pathways.

  • Jiwon Shim
  • , Tina Mukherjee
  •  & Utpal Banerjee