Investigating our insulin producing beta cells

Correctly regulated blood glucose is critical for overall human health. This is regulated by a hormone called insulin, which is released into the blood from our pancreatic beta cells in response to high blood glucose in order to lower this back to a safe range. This is important, as impaired insulin secretion can result in a condition called diabetes, a critical life-long condition which can present with severe complications.
The process of insulin release from cells occurs following a critical sequence of events within these cells which we call 'glucose sensing'. This involves small parts of the cells called proteins playing a key role to ensure that insulin is correctly released. Different conditions can cause modifications to how proteins are structured. These modifications can ultimately alter how proteins act within a cell and subsequently alter the processes they are involved in.
Many proteins involved in insulin release from the beta cell are predicted to undergo such modifications. These proteins have also been shown to be modified in other cells in the body. Therefore, this work aims to investigate these proteins, and confirm if they undergo these modifications in the beta cells, and determine how this could then influence insulin release from the cells. This will be investigated using cell-based models, using both 'healthy' cells and a cell model of diabetes. This will help us to understand the process of insulin release better during health, to understand what happens to insulin release during diabetes.