DRC member, Sam Stephens manuscript “Chromogranin B regulates early-stage insulin granule trafficking from the Golgi in pancreatic islet β-cells” was recently accepted for publication by the Journal of Cell Science and received the cover for the journal issue.
According to Stephens, the small clusters of cells within the pancreas, known as islet beta-cells, regulate blood sugar by controlled release of the hormone insulin. Insulin is made in the islet beta-cell as an inactive precursor molecule, proinsulin, where it is packaged into small vesicles. Within these vesicles, proinsulin is converted to the active hormone, insulin, where it is stored until needed. While the conversion of proinsulin to insulin with the islet beta-cell has been described, the molecular details of how insulin is packaged and stored until release are not well understood. In this study, they used novel imaging techniques to visualize the packaging of insulin and the movement of insulin vesicles within islet beta-cells and showed that the protein, chromogranin B (CgB), is critical for early stages of the insulin packaging process.
The cover depicts a surface rendering of secretory granules containing newly synthesized insulin (spectrum color), the Golgi complex (magenta) and the nucleus (blue) from a pancreatic islet β-cell.
Join us in Congratulating the Stephen’s lab on their accepted publication!
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