Inside our body, there is a small but very important organ called the pancreas. One of its main jobs is to make insulin. Insulin is a hormone that works like a key, helping sugar from the food we eat enter our cells. This sugar gives our cells energy.
When the body does not make enough insulin, sugar stays in the blood instead of going into the cells. This can lead to a disease called diabetes. People with diabetes often have high blood sugar levels, which can cause serious health problems over time.
Now, scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine have made an exciting discovery about the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. These cells are called beta cells. The team, led by Dr. James Lo, found that not all beta cells are the same. In fact, there are four different types. Their study was published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
Among the four types, one group stood out. This group is called cluster 1 beta cells. These special cells work better than the others. They make more insulin and help break down sugar more effectively. Because of this, scientists are calling them the ‘superhero’ cells. Losing these superhero cells can increase the risk of getting type 2 diabetes.
The team used a powerful tool called single-cell transcriptomics to find these different beta cells. This method lets scientists see which genes are active in each individual cell. Genes are like instruction books that tell cells what to do.
In the superhero cells, the genes that help make insulin and process sugar were much more active. The scientists also found that these cells had high levels of a protein called CD63. This protein helps researchers find and study the cells more easily.
What makes this discovery even more important is that both mice and humans have these superhero beta cells. In mice that were obese or had diabetes, there were fewer superhero cells. This led to less insulin and higher blood sugar.
But when scientists gave these mice extra superhero cells, their blood sugar improved. Giving them normal beta cells did not help as much. This means that helping people get more of these special cells could be a new way to treat diabetes.
Dr. Lo and his team are now trying to learn why diabetic mice lose these superhero cells and how to stop this from happening. They are also studying how current diabetes drugs affect the different types of beta cells.
Learning more about these cells may help scientists find better ways to treat or even prevent diabetes in the future. This research is an important step forward. It gives hope to people living with diabetes and shows how hard scientists are working to improve lives.
Other studies have also found that eating healthy foods like whole grains and blueberries, and getting enough vitamin D, may help people with diabetes keep their blood pressure under control.
This new discovery about superhero cells in the pancreas brings us closer to better treatments and maybe even a cure for diabetes one day.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about Vitamin D and type 2 diabetes, and what you need to know about avocado and type 2 diabetes.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies about how to eat to prevent type 2 diabetes, and 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes.
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