Guoqiang Gu, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
- : guoqiang.gu@vanderbilt.edu
- :
9415 MRB-IV
2213 Garland Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee - 37232-8240
Research Description
The Gu laboratory studies how pancreatic islet beta cells are made from embryonic progenitor cells and how they function and survive over a long lifespan. We use both mouse and human donor islets as research models. The impact of these studies is to reveal how beta cells in some individuals will lose function and viability, resulting in reduced functional beta-cell mass and subsequent diabetes in human subjects.
Four major islet cell types reside in the islets. They are alpha, beta, delta, and PP cells that secrete glucagon, insulin, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide, respectively. Dysfunction of endocrine islets, especially the insulin secreting beta cells, results in diabetes. Paradoxically, insulin secretion per se makes beta cells vulnerable to workload-induced death and dysfunction, presumably via over-activation of stress response genes (SRGs). Our goals are to unravel the molecular and cellular mechanisms that allow the generation and maintenance of sufficient functional beta-cell mass in each individual. We are particularly interested in understanding how genetic factors integrate with epigenetic landscapes (e.g., DNA methylation) in each progenitor cells to: 1) allow the seemingly identical progenitors to adopt different islet cell fate; and 2) produce beta cells with different levels of function, gene expression, and viability in postnatal life.
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