https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Unlike our organs, cell organelles such as mitochondria are not fixed in place, but when, where, how, and why organelles move remain unclear. Research published in the Biophysical Journal shows that when beta cells—the pancreatic cells that produce insulin—are exposed to high levels of glucose, their mitochondria move toward the cell's periphery. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-mitochondria-migrate-cell-membrane-response.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 18 Dec 2025 11:00:01 EST news685187227 Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase 4 (NADPH oxidase 4, NOX4) is an important member of the NADPH oxidase family that is primarily responsible for the production of H2O2. The regulation of NOX4 activity is predominantly through protein expression. However, the precise mechanisms by which highly secreting cells maintain NOX4 expression and activity while balancing H2O2 levels within the appropriate physiological range remain unclear. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-scientists-negative-nox4.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:30:48 EDT news630765046 Food science researchers from the University of NSW have developed a promising method to make spray dried beta carotene (β-carotene) microcapsules more stable, as reported in a paper published in Food Chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-advanced-method-stability-spray-dried.html Biochemistry Thu, 20 Jul 2023 14:31:03 EDT news609082261 Researchers have converted human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and demonstrated in mice infused with such cells that blood sugar levels can be controlled and diabetes functionally cured for nine months. https://phys.org/news/2020-02-diabetes-mice-rapidly-human-stem.html Biotechnology Tue, 25 Feb 2020 07:38:09 EST news501838680 Tufts University researchers have transplanted engineered pancreatic beta cells into diabetic mice, then caused the cells to produce more than two to three times the typical level of insulin by exposing them to light. The light-switchable cells are designed to compensate for the lower insulin production or reduced insulin response found in diabetic individuals. The study published in ACS Synthetic Biology shows that glucose levels can be controlled in a mouse model of diabetes without pharmacological intervention. https://phys.org/news/2019-11-insulin-producing-cells-diabetes.html Cell & Microbiology Sat, 02 Nov 2019 05:55:32 EDT news491892921 By combining two powerful technologies, scientists are taking diabetes research to a whole new level. In a study led by Harvard University's Kevin Kit Parker, microfluidics and human, insulin-producing beta cells have been integrated in an "Islet-on-a-Chip". The new device makes it easier for scientists to screen insulin-producing cells before transplanting them into a patient, test insulin-stimulating compounds, and study the fundamental biology of diabetes. https://phys.org/news/2019-08-pancreas-chip-scientists-combine-organ-on-a-chip.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 29 Aug 2019 08:00:01 EDT news486281322 A team of researchers from McMaster University has mapped at atomic resolution a toxic protein linked to Alzheimer's disease, allowing them to better understand what is happening deep within the brain during the earliest stages of the disease. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-scientists-toxic-proteins-linked-alzheimer.html Biochemistry Thu, 20 Jun 2019 09:37:49 EDT news480242253 Two oxygen-producing compounds - including one that boosts performance in some laundry detergents - might one day play a key role in helping scientists successfully build a bioartificial pancreas in the lab to cure type 1 diabetes. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-common-ingredient-laundry-detergent-advance.html Biochemistry Thu, 16 Nov 2017 13:27:16 EST news430061226 New Zealand researchers have uncovered a new mechanism that controls the release of the hormone insulin in the body, providing hope for those with a genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. https://phys.org/news/2016-12-diabetes-link.html Biochemistry Mon, 05 Dec 2016 07:56:55 EST news400146170 For decades, researchers have tried to duplicate the function of beta cells, the tiny insulin-producing entities that don't work properly in patients with diabetes. Insulin injections provide painful and often imperfect substitutes. Transplants of normal beta cells carry the risk of rejection or side effects from immunosuppressive therapies. https://phys.org/news/2016-03-scientists-painless-patch-insulin-producing-beta.html Materials Science Mon, 14 Mar 2016 12:38:43 EDT news377177914 The protein targets of a class of 'blockbuster' diabetes drugs have been identified by A*STAR researchers and may help explain varying type-2 patient responses to the drugs. https://phys.org/news/2016-01-insulin-demand-biochemical-explanation-success.html Biochemistry Wed, 06 Jan 2016 07:35:38 EST news371288115 A fluorescent imaging probe developed by A*STAR researchers has allowed scientists for the first time to visualize the detailed three-dimensional distribution of alpha cells in the pancreas of mice1. The probe could enhance diabetes research and shine a light on more effective treatment of the disease. https://phys.org/news/2015-09-imaging-pancreatic-cells-fluorescent-probe.html Biochemistry Fri, 11 Sep 2015 08:58:28 EDT news361180700 Researchers at the Pediatric Diabetes Research Center (PDRC) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that the pancreatic protein Nkx6.1 – a beta-cell enriched transcription factor – is essential to maintaining the functional state of beta cells. https://phys.org/news/2013-09-protein-essential-beta-cell-function.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:00:04 EDT news298199005 In the biggest result of its kind in more than ten years, physicists have made the most sensitive measurements yet in a decades-long hunt for a hypothetical and rare process involving the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. https://phys.org/news/2012-06-underground-neutrino-properties-unveils-results.html General Physics Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:00:01 EDT news258036635 A protein called "fascin" appears to play a critical transformation role in TGF beta mediated tumor metastasis, say researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published a study in a recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2011-11-unravel-biochemical-factor-important-tumor.html Biochemistry Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:55:01 EST news240065690 A myriad of inputs can indicate a body's health bombard pancreatic beta cells continuously, and these cells must consider all signals and "decide" when and how much insulin to release to maintain balance in blood sugar, for example. Reporting in Nature Chemical Biology last month, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased out how these cells interpret incoming signals and find that three proteins relay signals similar to an electrical circuit. https://phys.org/news/2010-12-onoffonoff-circuitry-insulin-releasing-cells.html Biochemistry Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:40:01 EST news211136872 Researchers have found a way in mice to convert another type of pancreas cell into the critical insulin-producing beta cells that are lost in those with type I diabetes. The secret ingredient is a single transcription factor, according to the report in the August 7th issue of Cell, a Cell Press journal. https://phys.org/news/2009-08-insulin-producing-cells-flip.html Biochemistry Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:10:01 EDT news168788864