%0 Journal Article
%T The ¦Á-cell in diabetes mellitus
%J -
%D 2018
%R https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0097-y
%X Findings from the past 10 years have placed the glucagon-secreting pancreatic ¦Á-cell centre stage in the development of diabetes mellitus, a disease affecting almost one in every ten adults worldwide. Glucagon secretion is reduced in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, increasing the risk of insulin-induced hypoglycaemia, but is enhanced in type 2 diabetes mellitus, exacerbating the effects of diminished insulin release and action on blood levels of glucose. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying these changes is therefore an important goal. RNA sequencing reveals that, despite their opposing roles in the control of blood levels of glucose, ¦Á-cells and ¦Â-cells have remarkably similar patterns of gene expression. This similarity might explain the fairly facile interconversion between these cells and the ability of the ¦Á-cell compartment to serve as a source of new ¦Â-cells in models of extreme ¦Â-cell loss that mimic type 1 diabetes mellitus. Emerging data suggest that GABA might facilitate this interconversion, whereas the amino acid glutamine serves as a liver-derived factor to promote ¦Á-cell replication and maintenance of ¦Á-cell mass. Here, we survey these developments and their therapeutic implications for patients with diabetes mellitus
%U https://www.nature.com/articles/s41574-018-0097-y