Cell Metabolism:
A selection of the most recent publications from Karolinska Institutet in the world’s leading scientific journals:
New research redraws pancreas anatomy Research from Karolinska Institutet shows that insulin secretion in the pancreas is not under direct neural control, as has previously been thought. Thanks to the secretion of the correct amount of insulin and other hormones, the body is able to maintain an almost constant level of blood sugar. Applying advanced microscopic techniques, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Miami have now zoomed in on the islets of Langerhans, containing the hormone-secreting cells of the pancreas. They discovered that there are only a few nerves in the human islets of Langerhans, which is in marked contrast to the mouse, where the islets of Langerhans are better studied and found to be rich in nerves. Another difference that they discovered was that most of the nerves in the human islets establish contact with the smooth muscle cells of the blood vessels instead of with the gland cells, as in mice. “This fundamental difference is highly significant and important, since the knowledge could form the basis for new and more specific diabetes drugs”, says professor Per-Olof Berggren, one of the leading researchers in the study. Autonomic axons in the human endocrine pancreas show unique innervation patterns Rodriguez-Diaz R, Abdulreda MH, Formoso AL, Gans I, Ricordi C, Berggren P-O, Caicedo A Cell Metabolism July 2011
Unexpected cell repairs the injured spinal cord
Cell dysfunction linked to obesity and metabolic disorders Dynamics of human adipose lipid turnover in health and metabolic disease Arner P, Bernard S, Salehpour M, Possnert G, Liebl J, Steier P, Buchholz BA, Eriksson M, Arner E, Hauner H, Skurk T, Rydén M, Frayn KN, Spalding KL Nature September 2011
Better result with patent drug in heart failure Association of candesartan vs losartan with all-cause mortality in patients with heart failure Eklind-Cervenka M, Benson L, Dahlström U, Edner M, Rosenqvist M, Lund LH JAMA January 2011
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A pericyte origin of spinal cord scar tissue Göritz C, Dias D, Tomilin N, Barbacid M, Shupliakov O, Frisén J Science July 2011
Heparin a key role player in allergy and inflammatory reactions Mast cells increase vascular permeability by heparininitiated bradykinin formation in vivo Oschatz C, Maas C, Lecher B, Jansen T, Björkqvist J, Tradler T, Sedlmeier R, Burfeind P, Cichon S, Hammerschmidt S, Müller-Esterl W, Wuillemin WA, Nilsson G, Renné T Immunity February 2011
New method for producing neurons Transcription factor-induced lineage selection of stem-cell-derived neural progenitor cells Panman L, Andersson E, Alekseenko Z, Hedlund E, Kee N, Mong J, Uhde CW, Deng Q, Sandberg R, Stanton LW, Ericsson J, Perlmann T Cell Stem Cell June 2011
Science:
After injury to the central nervous system, CNS, neurons are lost and largely replaced by a scar often referred to as the glial scar based on its abundance of supporting glial cells. In a new study, researchers show that the majority of scar cells in the damaged spinal cord are not glial cells at all, but derive from pericytes, a small group of cells located along blood vessels. They reveal that these pericytes start to divide after an injury, giving rise to a mass of connective tissue cells that migrate towards the lesion to form a large portion of the scar tissue. A pericyte They also show that these cells are needed to regain the tissue integrity, and that in the absence of this reaction, holes appear in the tissue instead of scarring. These new findings indicate a critical and previously unknown mechanism for scar formation following damage to the nerve system, and give reason for further investigation into whether the modulation of pericytes after CNS injury can stimulate functional recovery.
How the stem cell niche never dies EphB signaling controls lineage plasticity of adult neural stem cell niche cells Nomura T, Göritz C, Catchpole T, Henkemeyer M, Frisén J Cell Stem Cell December 2010
Improved survival and treatment for chronic blood disorders The success story of targeted therapy in chronic myeloid leukemia: A population-based study of 3,173 patients diagnosed in Sweden 1973–2008 Björkholm M, Ohm L, Eloranta S, Derolf Å, Hultcrantz M, Sjöberg J, Andersson T, Höglund M, Richter J, Landgren O, Kristinsson SY, Dickman PW Journal of Clinical Oncology May 2011 Smaller surgical procedure sufficient for high-risk melanoma A randomised multicentre trial comparing 2-cm vs 4-cm surgical excision margins for primary cutaneous melanoma thicker than 2 mm Gillgren P, Drzewiecki KT, Niin M, Gullestad HP, Hellborg H, Månsson-Brahme E, Ingvar C, Ringborg U The Lancet October 2011 These are just some of the publications from the last year, where researchers at Karolinska Institutet have contributed to journals with an impact factor of over 15. The impact factor reflects the average number of references during a year to articles published in a journal during the two previous years.
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