Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Diabetes is a disease with several debilitating complications. In the recent past, there is an alarming increase in diabetes cases reported. There are mainly two types of diabetes: Type 1 - where abnormal increase in blood glucose is caused by the destruction of pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin, the glucose lowering hormone, and Type 2 Diabetes - characterized by hyperglycemia, mainly due to the inability of insulin to act in order to lower blood glucose. Several hormones are involved in the regulation of insulin secretion and the maintenance of blood glucose levels. One important example of such a hormone is the glucagon like peptide-1, which is insulinotropic and a synthetic analogue (ByettaTM) of this hormone is now used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Recently, my supervisor's group identified the presence of a novel metabolic peptide, nesfatin-1 in the pancreatic beta cells. My project will study the effects of nesfatin-1 on beta cells. My specific objectives are to identify the role of nesfatin-1 on insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis and to determine whether nesfatin-1 influences beta cells growth, proliferation and cell death. I anticipate nesfatin-1 to be an insulinotropic and glucoregulatory peptide with other effects on the beta cells. If nesfatin-1 has some beneficial effects in regulating blood sugar levels, it could be explored to develop potential therapeutic strategies to prevent or treat diabetes.