Artemether Does Not Turn α Cells into β Cells.

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic α cells retain considerable plasticity and can, under the right circumstances, transdifferentiate into functionally mature β cells. In search of a targetable mechanistic basis, a recent paper suggested that the widely used anti-malaria drug artemether suppresses the α cell transcription factor Arx to promote transdifferentiation into β cells. However, key initial experiments in this paper were carried out in islet cell lines, and most subsequent validation experiments implied transdifferentiation without direct demonstration of α to β cell conversion. Indeed, we find no evidence that artemether promotes transdifferentiation of primary α cells into β cells. Moreover, artemether reduces Ins2 expression in primary β cells >100-fold, suppresses glucose uptake, and abrogates β cell c

SUBMITTER: van der Meulen T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5762275 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature