Browsing by Author "Demine, Stephane"

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    Beta Cell Imaging—From Pre-Clinical Validation to First in Man Testing
    (MDPI, 2020-10-01) Demine, Stephane; Schulte, Michael L.; Territo, Paul R.; Eizirik, Decio L.; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    There are presently no reliable ways to quantify human pancreatic beta cell mass (BCM) in vivo, which prevents an accurate understanding of the progressive beta cell loss in diabetes or following islet transplantation. Furthermore, the lack of beta cell imaging hampers the evaluation of the impact of new drugs aiming to prevent beta cell loss or to restore BCM in diabetes. We presently discuss the potential value of BCM determination as a cornerstone for individualized therapies in diabetes, describe the presently available probes for human BCM evaluation, and discuss our approach for the discovery of novel beta cell biomarkers, based on the determination of specific splice variants present in human beta cells. This has already led to the identification of DPP6 and FXYD2γa as two promising targets for human BCM imaging, and is followed by a discussion of potential safety issues, the role for radiochemistry in the improvement of BCM imaging, and concludes with an overview of the different steps from pre-clinical validation to a first-in-man trial for novel tracers.
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    Pharmacological inhibition of tyrosine protein-kinase 2 reduces islet inflammation and delays type 1 diabetes onset in mice
    (bioRxiv, 2024-05-09) Syed, Farooq; Ballew, Olivia; Lee, Chih-Chun; Rana, Jyoti; Krishnan, Preethi; Castela, Angela; Weaver, Staci A.; Chalasani, Namratha Shivani; Thomaidou, Sofia F.; Demine, Stephane; Chang, Garrick; de Brachène, Alexandra Coomans; Alvelos, Maria Ines; Marselli, Lorella; Orr, Kara; Felton, Jamie L.; Liu, Jing; Marchetti, Piero; Zaldumbide, Arnaud; Scheuner, Donalyn; Eizirik, Decio L.; Evans-Molina, Carmella; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Tyrosine protein-kinase 2 (TYK2), a member of the Janus kinase family, mediates inflammatory signaling through multiple cytokines, including interferon-α (IFNα), interleukin (IL)-12, and IL-23. Missense mutations in TYK2 are associated with protection against type 1 diabetes (T1D), and inhibition of TYK2 shows promise in the management of other autoimmune conditions. Here, we evaluated the effects of specific TYK2 inhibitors (TYK2is) in pre-clinical models of T1D. First, human β cells, cadaveric donor islets, and iPSC-derived islets were treated in vitro with IFNα in combination with a small molecule TYK2i (BMS-986165 or a related molecule BMS-986202). TYK2 inhibition prevented IFNα-induced β cell HLA class I up-regulation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and chemokine production. In co-culture studies, pre-treatment of β cells with a TYK2i prevented IFNα-induced activation of T cells targeting an epitope of insulin. In vivo administration of BMS-986202 in two mouse models of T1D (RIP-LCMV-GP mice and NOD mice) reduced systemic and tissue-localized inflammation, prevented β cell death, and delayed T1D onset. Transcriptional phenotyping of pancreatic islets, pancreatic lymph nodes (PLN), and spleen during early disease pathogenesis highlighted a role for TYK2 inhibition in modulating signaling pathways associated with inflammation, translational control, stress signaling, secretory function, immunity, and diabetes. Additionally, TYK2i treatment changed the composition of innate and adaptive immune cell populations in the blood and disease target tissues, resulting in an immune phenotype with a diminished capacity for β cell destruction. Overall, these findings indicate that TYK2i has beneficial effects in both the immune and endocrine compartments in models of T1D, thus supporting a path forward for testing TYK2 inhibitors in human T1D.