Elucidation of pancreatic beta-cell function by metabolomics and its clinical application

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24229007
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Metabolomics
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: SEINO Susumu 神戸大学, 医学研究科, 特命教授 (80236067)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 横井 伯英 神戸大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 特命准教授 (70311610)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MINAMI Kohtaro 神戸大学, 大学院医学研究科, 客員准教授 (80334176) ; SHIBASAKI Tadao 神戸大学, 大学院医学研究科, 客員准教授 (00323436) ; YABE Daisuke 神戸大学, 大学院医学研究科, 客員准教授 (60378643)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-05-31 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 膵β細胞 / 糖・脂質代謝 / インスリン分泌 / 分化・再生 / 糖尿病 / メタボローム解析 / 代謝シグナル / 病態マーカー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

By metabolomics-based studies, we obtained the following findings: (1) discovery that glutamate acts as a key signal in potentiation of insulin secretion by the gut hormone called "incretin"; (2) difference in metabolic profiling between pancreatic exocrine-derived iPS cells and fibroblast-derived iPS cells; and (3) identification of plasma tryptophan as a candidate biomarker for early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. In addition, we found that Epac2A in pancreatic beta-cells is critical for the augmenting effect of insulin secretion by combination of anti-diabetic sulfonylurea drug and incretin. We also identified a small molecule diphenylthiosemicarbazide that potentially leads to the development of a novel anti-diabetic drug.

Free Research Field

代謝学