Program

O.5 -- Oral, IWTCP-3

Date: Tuesday, 28 July 2015

Time: 09h40 - 10h00

Cellular Organization and Synchronization of Pancreatic Islets

Danh-Tai Hoang (1), Junghyo Jo (1,2)

(1) Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Pohang, Korea; (2) Department of Physics, POSTECH, Pohang, Korea

Structure-function relationship is one of the most fundamental problems in biology. Pancreatic islets, micro-organ for maintaining blood glucose levels constant, are mainly composed of glucagon-secreting $\alpha$ cells, insulin-secreting $\beta$ cells, and somatostatin-secreting $\delta$ cells. Glucagon and insulin are the two counter-regulatory hormones for increasing and decreasing blood glucose levels, respectively, in a pulsatile manner. Interestingly, the cellular composition and organization of islets are different between species: Mouse islets have a shell-core structure with dominant populations of $\beta$ cells in the core and non-$\beta$ cells on the periphery, while human islets have a less clear structure with intermingled cells. Since the islet cells interact to stimulate or suppress hormone secretions of neighboring cells, their spatial organization should have a functional significance. In this study, we considered islet cells as coupled oscillators that generate hormone pulses, and examined their synchronization behaviors depending on their spatial organization. Using this model, we explored the role of $\delta$ cells by removing them in islets, and also the islet deterioration in type 1 diabetes by deleting $\beta$ cells. Finally, we discuss potential advantages and disadvantages of the designs of islets for controlling glucose.

Presenter: Danh-Tai Hoang