Laboratory of Pancreatic Islet Research

Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences

EV project leader: Mgr. Monika Křivonosková

Group leader: RNDr. Lydie Plecitá, Ph.D. (Head of the Laboratory)

Website: https://www.fgu.cas.cz/en/departments/vyzkum-pankreatickych-ostruvku

Email: monika.krivonoskova@fgu.cas.cz, lydie.plecita@fgu.cas.cz

The Pancreatic Islet Research Laboratory is interested in the role of redox signaling in pancreatic beta cells under physiological conditions and in the development of diabetes. We study the interplay between beta cells and other endocrine cells in the pancreatic islets in response to altered redox status induced by glucose, which also involves small extracellular vesicles. We use the beta cell line (INS-1E) and pancreatic islets from C57BL/6J mice for our analysis. The aim is to investigate how the glucose-stimulated environment and intracellular redox status in beta cells affect the content of small EVs (proteins, lipids, and microRNA) and how small EVs released from beta cells exposed to glucolipotoxic conditions (mimicking diabetic phenotypes) impact the functionality of intact beta cells.