Insulin resistance is a central feature of T2DM and is the primary target for therapy. Nevertheless, the pathological consequences of T2DM predominantly relate to cerebro- and cardiovascular disease (CVD), representing the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in T2DM. Up to 60% of all deaths in T2DM are directly related to CVD, whilst patients with T2DM develop microvascular complications (e.g. retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy).
During the last years a great scientific focus has been on the potential implications of exposure to hyperglycemia during pregnancy for long-term adiposity and cardio-metabolic outcomes in the offspring.
Age is a major risk factor for insulin resistance, and thus, type 2 diabetes. The development of insulin resistance has been associated with metabolic inflexibility (MI), yet the underlying mechanisms are complex and not well understood. MI is defined and observed as an inability to favor lipid metabolism during fasting and exercise, and conversely, to suppress lipid oxidation and increase glucose uptake, storage, and oxidation under insulin-stimulated conditions (feeding).
In this project Nina will use multi-color reporters to exploit how the signaling cues that regulate differentiation and cellular expansion during human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) progression to insulin producing beta cells communicate.
A mechanistic understanding of organ regeneration is fundamental for developing tissue replacement therapies with which to treat injury or disease. With the overarching goal of understanding the regenerative capacity and cellular plasticity of the developing pancreas, I aim to explore the extent of tissue recovery, revealing the origin of the regenerating pancreatic cells and analyzing the signaling pathways involved in this process.
The most fundamental challenge for all living organisms is to sense and respond to nutrient-derived signals in order to adapt their metabolism and physiology to promote survival and achieve balanced growth. Thus, synthesis and metabolism of a large variety of metabolites and macromolecules must be strictly coordinated to meet the nutritional requirements of cells and organisms.
Fully automated control of blood glucose (BG) level by means of a portable artificial pancreas (AP) will substantially increase the quality of life for type 1 diabetes patients, by reducing the burden of meticulous considerations about manual adjustment of insulin dosage and timing.
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