Publications of the PLID

Here you can find all articles of PLID scientists that were published within the last 5 years. By law we are prevented from posting the pdf files of recent publications on our website.
Please contact us directly if you are interested in a reprint. Thank you.

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Featured Publications

Dreidimensionale Rekonstruktion einer Betazelle der Maus

New view of the highways of insulin transport

Microtubules are a part of cytoskeleton and act as highways for the transport of vesicles within the cell. Now, an international team led by scientists of the PLID, together with the CSBD, MPI-CBG, Janelia Research Campus, CMCB, Fondazione Human Technopole as well as the EPFL used high resolution 3D electron microscopy to image insulin secreting pancreatic islet beta cells in their entirety at an unprecedented resolution and reconstructed all insulin secretory granules, microtubules, mitochondria, Golgi apparati, and centrioles to generate a comprehensive spatial map of microtubule-organelle interactions.

Schematic representation of insulin production including potential sources of error.

Review on the making of insulin in health and diabetes

The discovery of insulin in 1921 has been one of greatest scientific achievements of the 20th century. Since then, the availability of insulin has shifted the focus of diabetes treatment from trying to keep patients alive to saving and improving the life of millions. Now, scientists of the PLID published a new review article on the making of insulin in a special issue of “Diabetologia”. It sheds light on the most recent findings on insulin synthesis and highlights their relevance in diabetes.

Graphical Abstract Panzer et a. JCI insights

New approach to study human pancreas pathogenesis in the development and progression of T1D

In type 1 diabetes (T1D), autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells leads to insulin deficiency and loss of glycemic control. However, knowledge about pathophysiology in T1D remains incomplete, also due to a lack of technologies to study the live human pancreas in T1D.

Mass or function - PLID scientists provide new puzzle piece for the controversial debate on early type-2 diabetes pathogenesis

Type-2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by peripheral insulin resistance and insufficient insulin release from pancreatic islet beta cells. However, it is still unclear if the inadequate insulin levels during T2D development are the result of beta cell dysfunction and/or loss of beta cell numbers.

How insulin interacts with its receptor

One goal of modern diabetes research is to improve the effect of therapeutic insulin on the body. In a new study, the researchers have now solved a critical part of the puzzle by showing how insulin interacts with its receptor at a second binding site.

Graphical Abstract Binger et al.2019 PNAS

International research team identified new important player in insulin homeostasis

Researchers from La Trobe University in Australia and the PLID have identified that the protein Atp6ap2 is essential for the correct functioning of pancreatic beta cells. When this protein was switched off in the beta cells of mice their blood glucose levels dramatically increased.

Metabolically phenotyped surgical patients represent a novel and complementary source of pancreatic tissue for diabetes research

Contemporary research of beta cell biology in context of type-2 diabetes is based mainly on the long-standing technique for isolation of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Scientists of the PLID developed a new approach to isolate islets from snap frozen surgical specimens donated by metabolically phenotyped pancreatectomized patients. A new review article published in “Molecular Metabolism” explains how this platform may represent a paradigmatic shift for the study of human islets and diabetes research.

Widespread disease diabetes: Why do beta cells refuse to release insulin?

Researchers from PLID together with colleagues from Imperial College London and other research institutes from the UK, Canada and Italy have observed amazing cell interactions: The beta cells of the pancreas work as highly-connected clusters, known as islets, and their responses to rising blood glucose levels are coordinated by small teams of “leader cells”. To show that, the research teams developed an innovative imaging technique which allowed them to observe beta cells’ hierarchical relationship in live animals including in zebrafish and mouse.

New drug reduces risk of death in patients with type 2 diabetes

In Germany, about one in ten people suffer from diabetes and diabetes patients still die two to three times more frequently from cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. Newly developed drugs for diabetes therapy are therefore expected to reduce the number of cardiovascular deaths. Scientists from the PLID have, together with international colleagues, investigated for the first time whether semaglutide in tablet form leads to a reduction in cardiovascular events. An international, randomized double-blind study with 3,183 participants was therefore conducted in 21 countries in parallel.

Better efficacy of an orally available GLP-1 agonist compared to DPP-IV inhibitor

With the participation of researchers from the PLID, a GLP-1 receptor agonist in the form of tablets could for the first time be compared with the most common second-line therapy of T2D, a DPP-IV inhibitor. The results of the PIONEER-3 trial have now been published in the renowned journal ´Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)´.

Publikation_Grzybek_AdiposeTissueLipidomics

New shotgun lipidomics method for molecular profiling of adipose tissue

Scientists from PLID, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus and Lipotype GmbH joined their forces and developed a new shotgun lipidomics method for the molecular profiling of brown and white adipose tissue.

How a protein promotes the healing of inflammation

Inflammatory processes are a natural defense reaction of the immune system against pathogens. If they get out of control, they can however lead to diseases themselves. The protein DEL-1, is a central actor that ensures that excessive inflammation subsides. Scientists from the Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus of the TU Dresden and the National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden (NCT/UCC), together with an international team of researchers, were able to demonstrate the importance and basic function of this protein.

How the insulin receptor works

Scientists at PLID have found out how cells react to insulin. It was previously known that insulin transmits a signal through receptors on the cell surface, however the Coskun group was now able to observe a change in the shape of the receptors.

Largest collection of islet cells reveals new diabetes genes

A collaborative study has identified a novel cluster of dysregulated genes in the pancreatic islets of patients with type 2 diabetes. The study is part of the EU-Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) research consortium IMIDIA.

Rainbow colors reveal cell history

Dr. Nikolay Ninov and his group developed a system called “Beta-bow”, which allows the history of β-cells to be traced by genetic bar-coding and multicolor imaging.

Pancreas lineage allocation and specification

Sphingosine-1-phosphate has a key role in mouse pancreas progenitor survival and the generation of the endocrine and acinar lineages. S1p signaling promotes endocrine specification by stabilizing YAP and attenuating Notch signaling.

Recent Publications

Here you can find the 10 latest publications of our institute. If you are looking for older publications, please follow the link below to our publications form 2013 until today.

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Müller et al. 3D FIB-SEM reconstruction of microtubule-organelle interaction in whole primary mouse β cells. J Cell Biol. 2021 Feb 1;220(2):e202010039. doi: 10.1083/jcb.202010039.
Assfalg et al. Oral insulin immunotherapy in children at risk for type 1 diabetes in a randomised controlled trial. Diabetologia. 2021 Jan 30. doi: 10.1007/s00125-020-05376-1.
Ansarullah et al. Inceptor counteracts insulin signalling in β-cells to control glycaemia. Nature. 2021 Jan 27. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03225-8.
Willmes et al. The longevity gene mIndy (I'm Not Dead, Yet) affects blood pressure through sympathoadrenal mechanisms. JCI Insight. 2021 Jan 25;6(2):136083. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.136083.
Hazini et al. miR-375- and miR-1-Regulated Coxsackievirus B3 Has No Pancreas and Heart Toxicity But Strong Antitumor Efficiency in Colorectal Carcinomas. Hum Gene Ther. 2021 Jan 22. doi: 10.1089/hum.2020.228.
Lagou et al. Sex-dimorphic genetic effects and novel loci for fasting glucose and insulin variability. Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 5;12(1):24. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19366-9.
Tang et al. Image-Based Machine Learning Algorithms for Disease Characterization in the Human Type 1 Diabetes Pancreas. Am J Pathol. 2020 Dec 8:S0002-9440(20)30551-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.11.010
Peitzsch et al., Metabolic regulation of prostate cancer heterogeneity and plasticity. Semin Cancer Biol. 2020 Dec 5:S1044-579X(20)30261-3. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.12.002. Online ahead of print.
Marselli et al., Persistent or Transient Human β Cell Dysfunction Induced by Metabolic Stress: Specific Signatures and Shared Gene Expression with Type 2 Diabetes. Cell Rep. 2020 Dec 1;33(9):108466. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108466.
Ziegler and Bonifacio. Shortening the paths to type 1 diabetes mellitus prevention. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2020 Nov 30. doi: 10.1038/s41574-020-00450-5.