Recently it has be come clear that diabetes is not only a disease of reduced insulin signalling and secretion, but a bi-hormonal disease where the hormone glucagon contributes to the pathologically high blood glucose levels. Glucagon is a counter regulatory hormone. During fasting and starvation circulating glucagon maintains blood glucose levels by increasing hepatic glucose production. Glucagon is secreted from alpha cells in the pancreas in response to reductions in blood glucose concentration. Despite that we been studying the glucagon secreting alpha cells for almost a century, we still know very little about their function and how glucagon secretion is regulated.
Our research aims to understand how glucagon secretion is regulated, how alpha cells interact with the sorrounding environment and how changes in alpha cell function contribute to changes in glucose metabolism.
Funded by:
jgk-lab.org 