TOP STORY

Type 1 Diabetes Patients Attempt to Replenish Beta Cells
Researchers have used a unique collection of pancreas specimens taken from patients who died soon after diagnosis of type 1 diabetes to show that they respond to the ongoing process of destruction by inducing their islet cells to proliferate. [Press release from Peninsula Medical School discussing online prepublication in Diabetologia]

Derive iPSCs feeder-free* with mTeSR®1 by STEMCELL Technologies     *Sun et al., PNAS, September 2009. *Chan et al., Nature Biotechnology, October 2009.

New Combination Effective Against Pancreatic Cancer
Sorafenib is used for advanced liver and kidney cancer and also appears to be effective against cancer stem cells in pancreatic cancer. [Press release from Heidelberg University Hospital discussing online prepublication in Cancer Research]

Crossover Study Indicates Noninferiority of Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Results of a Phase III crossover study indicated that treatment with gemcitabine plus erlotinib followed by capecitabine was comparable to capecitabine plus erlotinib followed by gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. [Press release from HemOncToday discussing research presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology]

Best Survival Data Ever Reported in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
Gemcitabine has been a cornerstone of pancreatic cancer treatment for 15 years now, used alone or more recently in combination with erlotinib (Tarceva), but new results suggest that it should be replaced with the FOLFIRINOX combination (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin). [Press release from Medscape Medical News discussing research presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology]

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CURRENT PUBLICATIONS (Ranked by Impact Factor of the Journal)

DIABETES

Regulation of Golgi Structure and Secretion by Receptor-Induced G Protein BetaGamma Complex Translocation
Insulin secretion was shown to be induced by muscarinic receptor activation in a pancreatic beta cell line, NIT-1. Induction of insulin secretion was also inhibited by the dominant negative gamma3 subunit consistent with the Golgi fragmentation induced by betagamma complex translocation playing a role in secretion. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A]

Induction of Chimerism Permits Low-Dose Islet Grafts in the Liver or Pancreas to Reverse Refractory Autoimmune Diabetes
Induction of chimerism not only provides immune tolerance to donor islets, but also markedly reduces the required amount of donor islets for reversal of diabetes. [Diabetes]

Membrane Potential-Dependent Inactivation of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels in Alpha Cells Inhibits Glucagon Secretion from Human Islets
Human alpha cells are electrically excitable, and blockade of any ion channel involved in action potential depolarization or repolarization results in inhibition of glucagon secretion. [Diabetes]

Evidence of Increased Islet Cell Proliferation in Patients with Recent-Onset Type 1 Diabetes
Alpha and beta cells undergo a marked increase in proliferation during the progression of type 1 diabetes in humans. The results imply that islet cell proliferation is re-initiated in response to the autoimmune attack associated with type 1 diabetes. [Diabetologia]

Foxa1 and Foxa2 Maintain the Metabolic and Secretory Features of the Mature Beta Cell
Data demonstrate that Foxa1 and Foxa2 play crucial roles in the development and maintenance of beta cell-specific secretory and metabolic pathways. [Mol Endocrinol]

PANCREATIC CANCER

Synergistic Activity of Sorafenib and Sulforaphane Abolishes Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cell Characteristics
Researchers report targeting of pancreatic cancer stem cells by sorafenib and the development of a strategy to enhance this effect. [Cancer Res]

Increased Immunogenicity of Tumor-Associated Antigen, Mucin 1, Engineered to Express Alpha-Gal Epitopes: A Novel Approach to Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer
Results suggested that vaccination using cells engineered to express alpha-gal epitopes is a novel strategy for treatment of pancreatic cancer. [Cancer Res]

Adult Pancreatic Acinar Cells Give Rise to Ducts but not Endocrine Cells in Response to Growth Factor Signaling
Researchers conclude that apparent pancreatic plasticity can result both from the ability of acinar cells to change fate and of endocrine cells to reorganize in association with duct structures. [Development]

Inhibition of NFKappaB and Pancreatic Cancer Cell and Tumor Growth by Curcumin Is Dependent on Specificity Protein Downregulation
Researchers observed that curcumin inhibits Panc28 and L3.6pL pancreatic cancer cell and tumor growth in nude mice bearing L3.6pL cells as xenografts. [J Biol Chem]

Cyclooxygenase-Deficient Pancreatic Cancer Cells Use Exogenous Sources of Prostaglandins
Researchers show that pancreatic cancer stromal cells, such as fibroblasts expressing cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and COX-2, are a likely source of prostaglandins for pancreatic cancer cells deficient in COX. [Mol Cancer Res]

Isolation of Genes Involved in Pancreas Regeneration by Subtractive Hybridization
Researchers believe that Glul, Lgmn and Reg3a can serve as novel targets in diabetes mellitus genetic therapy. [Biol Chem]

INDUSTRY NEWS

$20 Million to Johns Hopkins for Pancreas Cancer Research
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center has been awarded the largest gift for pancreas cancer research in its history. [Johns Hopkins University Press Release]

DURATION-4 Study Results: BYDUREON Efficacy and Tolerability Profile Extended to Monotherapy Treatment
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company and Alkermes, Inc. announced results from DURATION-4, the fourth in a series of studies designed to test the superiority of BYDUREON™ (exenatide extended-release for injectable suspension), an investigational type 2 diabetes therapy, as compared to other type 2 diabetes medications. [Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Press Release]

ISSCR Launches Web Site Providing Information on Stem Cell Treatments
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) announced that it has launched "A Closer Look at Stem Cell Treatments" (www.closerlookatstemcells.org), a web site to arm patients, their families and doctors with information they need to make decisions about stem cell treatments. [International Society for Stem Cell Research Press Release]

Companies Pledge to Make More Trial Data Public
An international organization of pharmaceutical companies has adopted new guidelines governing the publication of clinical trial results. The policy calls for the industry to publish the results of late-stage, 'phase III' clinical trials in peer-reviewed journals, regardless of the trials' outcome. [NatureNews Press Release]

POLICY NEWS

Diseased Cells Fail to Win Approval
In the latest obstacle to expanding the number of embryonic stem-cell lines eligible for U.S. federal funding, a National Institutes of Health committee has unanimously rejected dozens of cell lines carrying mutations for specific diseases. [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Additional Submission Date for NIDDK PAR-10-197: NIDDK Multi-Center Clinical Study Implementation Planning Grants (U34) (NOT-DK-10-005)  [National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, United States]

Enhancing Peer Review: Advance Notice on Post-Submission Application Materials for NIH Training and Related Applications (NOT-OD-10-104) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

PFINDR: Phenotype Finder IN Data Resources: A Tool to Support Cross-Study Data Discovery Among NHLBI Genomic Studies (UH2/UH3) (RFA-HL-11-020) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Roster of the Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee  [Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States]

70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association
June 25-29, 2010
Orlando, United States

21st Meeting of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) 
June 26-29, 2010
Oslo, Norway

United Kingdom National Stem Cell Network (UKNSCN) Third Annual Scientific Conference
July 12-14, 2010
Nottingham, United Kingdom

2010 World Cancer Congress
August 18-21, 2010
Shenzhen, China

Select Biosciences Inaugural Cellular Therapy Summit
August 24-25, 2010
Edinburgh, Scotland

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Meeting - Advancing the Life Sciences
September 4-7, 2010
Barcelona, Spain

The Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (AUGIS) 2010 Scientific Meeting 
September 9-10, 2010
Oxford, United Kingdom

Stem Cells USA & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2010
September 13-15, 2010
Philadelphia, United States 

Annual Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) World Congress
September 19-23, 2010
Sydney, Australia

Institute of Medicine - University of Illinois at Chicago Midwest Conference on Diabetes and Obesity
September 21, 2010
Chicago, United States

35th European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress
October 8-12, 2010
Milan, Italy

Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium 2010
October 29-30, 2010
Leipzig, Germany

2010 American Pancreatic Association (APA) Annual Meeting
November 3-6, 2010
Chicago, United States

Select Biosciences International Forum on Stem Cells
November 12-13, 2010
Tianjin, China

Visit our events page to stay up to date with the latest events in the cell, gene and immunotherapy community.

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