Type 1 diabetes(T1D)is an autoimmune disease that selectively destroys insulin-producingβ-cells in the pancreas.An unmet need in diabetes management,current therapy is focussed on transplantation.While the reprogramm...Type 1 diabetes(T1D)is an autoimmune disease that selectively destroys insulin-producingβ-cells in the pancreas.An unmet need in diabetes management,current therapy is focussed on transplantation.While the reprogramming of progenitor cells into functional insulin-producingβ-cells has also been proposed this remains controversial and poorly understood.The challenge is determining why default transcriptional suppression is refractory to exocrine reactivation.After the death of a 13-year-old girl with established insulin-dependent T1D,pancreatic cells were harvested in an effort to restore and understand exocrine competence.The pancreas showed classic silencing ofβ-cell progenitor genes with barely detectable insulin(Ins)transcript.GSK126,a highly selective inhibitor of EZH2 methyltransferase activity influenced H3K27me3 chromatin content and transcriptional control resulting in the expression of coreβ-cell markers and ductal progenitor genes.GSK126 also reinstated Ins gene expression despite absoluteβ-cell destruction.These studies show the refractory nature of chromatin characterises exocrine suppression influencingβ-cell plasticity.Additional regeneration studies are warranted to determine if the approach of this n-of-1 study generalises to a broader T1D population.展开更多
基金A.E-O.is a National Health and Medical Research Council(NHMRC)Senior Research Fellow(1154650)acknowledges grant funding(2003401,1113188)+1 种基金M.E.C.acknowledges NHMRC(1175760)supported by an Innovation Grant from JDRF International(Grant#1-INO-2022-1123-A-N)。
文摘Type 1 diabetes(T1D)is an autoimmune disease that selectively destroys insulin-producingβ-cells in the pancreas.An unmet need in diabetes management,current therapy is focussed on transplantation.While the reprogramming of progenitor cells into functional insulin-producingβ-cells has also been proposed this remains controversial and poorly understood.The challenge is determining why default transcriptional suppression is refractory to exocrine reactivation.After the death of a 13-year-old girl with established insulin-dependent T1D,pancreatic cells were harvested in an effort to restore and understand exocrine competence.The pancreas showed classic silencing ofβ-cell progenitor genes with barely detectable insulin(Ins)transcript.GSK126,a highly selective inhibitor of EZH2 methyltransferase activity influenced H3K27me3 chromatin content and transcriptional control resulting in the expression of coreβ-cell markers and ductal progenitor genes.GSK126 also reinstated Ins gene expression despite absoluteβ-cell destruction.These studies show the refractory nature of chromatin characterises exocrine suppression influencingβ-cell plasticity.Additional regeneration studies are warranted to determine if the approach of this n-of-1 study generalises to a broader T1D population.
