Endocrine Abstracts

The pig is an interesting model species for translational endocrine and metabolic research. Many organ systems relevant for endocrine research, including pancreas and gastrointestinal tract, are more similar to the corresponding human organs than those of other species. The human-like size and weight of pigs allows direct transfer of medical products, surgical techniques and in vivo imaging techniques to applications in human patients. Moreover, metabolic tests, such ...

Transplantation of pancreas or isolated Langerhans islets can cure type 1 diabetes. Xenografts from transgenic pigs represent a promising source to overcome the shortage of organ donors. We investigated the immunosuppressive effect of local LEA29Y expression (a high-affinity variant of CTLA4-Ig) by transplantation of neonatal porcine islet-like clusters (NPICCs) from INSLEA29Y transgenic pigs into humanized mice. NPICCs from 1–5 day-old pigs expressing LEA29Y und...

EGFR ligands, a family of seven related peptide growth factors, are emerging as key factors regulating different aspects of female reproduction including oocyte maturation and ovulation, and implantation. Betacellulin (BTC) is a rather neglected EGFR ligand whose biological activities have been mostly associated with the endocrine pancreas. During the routine breeding of recently established BTC transgenic mouse lines (Schneider et al., Endocrinology 146, 5237–5246, 2005)...

Betacellulin, one of several peptides activating the EGFR (ErbB1) and related receptors, is a multipotent growth factor known to posses the unique ability to promote growth and differentiation of pancreatic β-cells.We investigated the effects of betacellulin overexpression in a recently established transgenic mouse model (Schneider et al., Endocrinology 146, 5237–5246, 2005). In transgenic animals, overall glucose metabolism was improved...