New insulin-producing beta-cell may improve diabetes treatment

Researchers have identified at least four separate subtypes of human insulin producing beta cells that may be important in the understanding and treatment of diabetes.
"This study marks the first description of several different kinds of human insulin producing beta cells," said Markus Grompe from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in the US.
"Some of the cells are better at releasing insulin than others, whereas others may regenerate quicker. Therefore, it is possible that people with different percentages of the subtypes are more prone to diabetes," said Grompe.
"Further understanding of cell characteristics could be the key to uncovering new treatment options, as well as the reason why some people are diabetic and others are not," he added.

Diabetes is caused by the dysfunction or loss of insulin producing beta cells, which help the body to achieve normal blood sugar levels. Previously, only a single variety of beta cell was known to exist.
However, using human pancreatic islets, or clusters of up to 4,000 cells, Grompe and colleagues discovered a method to identify and isolate four distinct types of beta cells.

They also found that hundreds of genes were differently expressed between cell subtypes and that they produced different amounts of insulin.
All type 2 diabetics had abnormal percentages of the subtypes, suggesting a possible role in the disease process, researchers said.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.