ReviewBest practice & research. Clinical endocrinology & metabolism2015
Evolving function and potential of pancreatic alpha cells.
Review in Best practice & research. Clinical endocrinology & metabolism, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Markers of beta cell and alpha cell mass in human stem cell-generated implants with glycemic control at human setpoint.Stem cells translational medicine · 2026Article
- Distinctive patterns of glucagon and incretin responses to oral and isoglycaemic intravenous glucose load in fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Epigenetic regulation in type II diabetes: linking molecular mechanisms to clinical management.Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2026Review
- Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors facilitate cell phenotype conversion of alpha cells through progenitors to beta cells by activating Ppargc1α in diabetic mice.Chinese medical journal · 2026Article
- The SGLT2 Inhibitor Canagliflozin Promotes β-Cell Regeneration and Restores and Stabilises β-Cell Identity in a Polygenic Model of Severe Early-Onset Type 2 Diabetes.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Generation of Insulin-Producing Alpha TC1-6 Cells Using EpiCRISPR System for Targeted DNA Methylation.Bio-protocol · 2025Article
- Recent advances in pancreatic α-cell transdifferentiation for diabetes therapy.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Beneficial Effects of ProbioticInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Zinc-chelating BET bromodomain inhibitors equally target islet endocrine cell types.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Newly discovered knowledge pertaining to glucagon and its clinical applications.Journal of diabetes investigation · 2023Review
- EpiCRISPR targeted methylation of Arx gene initiates transient switch of mouse pancreatic alpha to insulin-producing cells.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- The Impact of Pancreatic Exocrine Diseases on the β-Cell and Glucose Metabolism-A Review with Currently Available Evidence.Biomolecules · 2022Review
- Regulation of α-cell glucagon secretion: The role of second messengers.Chronic diseases and translational medicine · 2022Review
- Unexpected Pleiotropic Effects of SGLT2 Inhibitors: Pearls and Pitfalls of This Novel Antidiabetic Class.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Article
- Antidiabetic drug therapy alleviates type 1 diabetes in mice by promoting pancreatic α-cell transdifferentiation.Biochemical pharmacology · 2020Article
- Article
- Immunohistochemical study to detect glucagon and insulin hormones in pancreas of camel and buffalo.Veterinary world · 2020Article
- Alpha the versatile: Guardians of the islets.Journal of diabetes investigation · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The alpha cells that co-occupy the islets in association with beta cells have been long recognized as the source of glucagon, a hyperglycemia-producing and diabetogenic hormone. Although the mechanisms that control the functions of alpha cells, glucagon secretion, and the role of glucagon in diabetes have remained somewhat enigmatic over the fifty years since their discovery, seminal findings during the past few years have moved alpha cells into the spotlight of scientific discovery. These findings obtained largely from studies in mice are: Alpha cells have the capacity to trans-differentiate into insulin-producing beta cells. Alpha cells contain a GLP-1 generating system that produces GLP-1 locally for paracrine actions within the islets that likely promotes beta cell growth and survival and maintains beta cell mass. Impairment of glucagon signaling both prevents the occurrence of diabetes in conditions of the near absence of insulin and expands alpha cell mass. Alpha cells appear to serve as helper cells or guardians of beta cells to ensure their health and well-being. Of potential relevance to the possibility of promoting the transformation of alpha to beta cells is the observation that impairment of glucagon signaling leads to a marked increase in alpha cell mass in the islets. Such alpha cell hyperplasia provides an increased supply of alpha cells for their transdifferentiation into new beta cells. In this review we discuss these recent discoveries from the perspective of their potential relevance to the treatment of diabetes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.