NIDDK Archives

zinc pill on spoon over white background

Study shows excess dietary zinc worsens C. diff infection

Sep. 26, 2016—Too much dietary zinc increases susceptibility to infection by Clostridium difficile — “C. diff” — the most common cause of hospital-acquired infections.

Restore T cells to fight leukemia

Sep. 14, 2016—Modulation of T cell metabolism thus may represent a new therapeutic avenue for leukemia patients.

Proliferative capacity of neuroblastoma

Aug. 31, 2016—The sphere-forming frequency of neuroblastoma cells is a measure of their proliferative capacity and could help guide treatment strategies for neuroblastoma.

It takes two to tango: beta cell development

Jun. 23, 2016—Defining the genes required for the function of insulin-producing beta cells is crucial for ongoing efforts to develop a cell-based therapy for diabetes.

Fat hormone’s role in zebrafish

Mar. 8, 2016—The hormone leptin regulates glucose balance, but not fat stores, in zebrafish.

Liver balancing act

Feb. 24, 2016—Vanderbilt researchers have defined a mechanism that limits liver cell proliferation after injury in order to preserve critical metabolic functions.

Building intestinal brush borders

Feb. 8, 2016—Studies of the molecular complex that helps build specialized cellular surfaces could shed light on the mechanisms underlying a genetic deaf-blindness syndrome accompanied by intestinal disease.

DISSECTing cell signaling networks

Dec. 14, 2015—Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new method to study cell signaling networks at single-cell resolution.

Microtubules act as cellular ‘rheostat’ to control insulin secretion

Dec. 3, 2015—Microtubules — cellular “highways” that deliver cargo to the cell membrane for secretion — have a surprising role in pancreatic beta cells. Instead of facilitating glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, they limit it, a team of Vanderbilt investigators reported recently in Developmental Cell.