Xiong Liu

🧵(1/7)We are now out of September🍁! From the last two weeks we have had publications from the CIRTN labs of Drs Jenny Bruin, Mourad Ferdaoussi, Peter Light, Patrick MacDonald, James Shapiro and Bruce Verchere!

Novel insights into the molecular underpinnings of islet cell dysfunction in #T1D highlighting pathways that may be leveraged to preserve residual β-cell function and modulate α-cell activity @bcellorg.bsky.social www.jci.org/articles/vie...

Mapping early human blood cell differentiation using single-cell proteomics and transcriptomics Single-cell transcriptomics (scRNA-seq) has facilitated the characterization of cell state heterogeneity and recapitulation of differentiation trajectories. However, the exclusive use of mRNA measurem...

Mapping early human blood cell differentiation using single-cell proteomics and transcriptomics | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#FluorescencFriday

Save the date for the 2026 A-BC Islet Biology meeting! Looking forward to many fantastic presentations by trainees in islet biology from all over Canada as well as great keynote lectures. Please share widely! isletmeeting.weebly.com

Hello! Welcome to the CIRTN-R2FIC BlueSky account! Our group focuses on researching pancreatic islet biology and pathology related to islets such as type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Here you will find bi-weekly updates from the scientists from across Canada that make up CIRTN-R2FIC.

This is awesome.

(& who remembers mouth pipetting ✋😱)

Heparan sulfate fine-tuned interleukin-1 (IL-1) signaling inhibits insulin secretion of grafted pancreatic islets The binding of heparan sulfate to IL-1α potentiates the inhibitory action of IL-1α on insulin release.

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

I learned that no need to be perfect to move on. Just keep pushing towards the final goal. Working on the details after getting the big picture...

Postdoctoral Fellow, Qualitative Type 2 Diabetes Research Company Description: UHN is Canada’s #1 hospital and the world’s #1 publicly funded hospital. With 10 sites and more than 44,000 TeamUHN members, UHN consists of Toronto General Hospital, Toronto West...

We’re hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow! Exciting opportunity to join our research program @uhn.ca leading community-engaged, equity-driven type 2 diabetes research using qualitative and mixed-methods approaches.🔗: jobs.smartrecruiters.com/UniversityHe...
@kristalamb.bsky.social @nhp-uoft.bsky.social

Imeglimin suppresses glucagon secretion and induces a loss of α cell identity In type 2 diabetes, glucagon dysregulation persists. Tsuno et al. demonstrate that imeglimin suppresses glucagon secretion and induces α cell dedifferentiation via inhibition of Gsα and MafB, respecti...

Imeglimin suppresses glucagon secretion and induces a loss of α cell identity: Cell Reports Medicine www.cell.com/cell-reports...

The antigen presentation landscape of cytokine-stressed human pancreatic islets Nanaware et al. characterize peptides presented by MHC proteins in inflamed human pancreatic islets and test them for reactivity with CD4 and CD8 T cells from patients with T1D. These results identify...

The antigen presentation landscape of cytokine-stressed human pancreatic islets: Cell Reports www.cell.com/cell-reports...

CRISPR activation screen uncovers MARCKSL1 as a gauge for extracellular vesicle secretion. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.24.665424v1

The official post:

apps.ualberta.ca/careers/post...

Edmonton

Official posting coming soon, but here's a heads-up:

#Postdoc Opportunity for individuals with an interest in advancing the understanding of pancreatic islet hormones in health and #diabetes. Diverse backgrounds, skill sets and experiences are welcome!

www.bcell.org

LONP1 regulation of mitochondrial protein folding provides insight into beta cell failure in type 2 diabetes - Nature Metabolism LONP1, whose expression is downregulated in islets from donors with type 2 diabetes, is vital to mediate efficient mitochondrial protein folding, thus preventing proteotoxicity and promoting islet β c...

Type 2 diabetes is often considered a protein misfolding disease. But where are these toxic proteins found? 🤔

🚨In new work out today in @natmetabolism.nature.com, we show that mitochondrial protein misfolding (yes mitos🤯) leads to beta cell damage in T2D. 🚨 nature.com/articles/s42... 1/n

Build your peer review expertise. Applications open now.

Early-career researchers looking to gain experience within peer reviewing are invited to apply for the JAMA Network Peer Review Academy.

Applications are due Monday, July 21. https://ja.ma/3TgYmv5

Our University Research Fellowships are now open for applications. These fellowships are for outstanding early career scientists to pursue cutting-edge scientific research and build an independent research career. Find out more: #RSGrants royalsociety.org/grants/unive...

ROS transfer at peroxisome-mitochondria contact regulates mitochondrial redox Maintenance of mitochondrial redox homeostasis is of fundamental importance to cellular health. Mitochondria harbor a host of intrinsic antioxidant defenses, but the contribution of extrinsic, nonmito...

ROS transfer at peroxisome-mitochondria contact regulates mitochondrial redox | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

TMEM55A-mediated PI5P signalling regulates alpha cell actin depolymerisation and glucagon secretion - Diabetologia Aims/hypothesis Diabetes is associated with the dysfunction of glucagon-producing pancreatic islet alpha cells, although the underlying mechanisms regulating glucagon secretion and alpha cell dysfunct...

Up front & free to read in our July issue #editorspicks: TMEM55A-mediated PI5P signalling regulates alpha cell actin depolymerisation and glucagon secretion link.springer.com/article/10.1...

We are launching a new initiative to support experimental design, data management/analysis and bioinformatics. Early days yet, but check it out here.

www.bcell.org/adi-datasci....

Call for 20 Assistant Professor positions Karolinska Institutet is a world-leading medical university with a long and proud history of ground-breaking research. We are now recruiting outstanding early-career researchers with particularly exce...

Karolinska is looking for 20 (!!) assistant professors and offering 6 year appointments with ~1M USD startup packages.

ki.se/en/about-ki/...

Glucose metabolism and regulation in establishing human stem cell-derived β cell maturation Efforts to generate mature stem cell-derived β (SC-β) cells have been ongoing for decades, yet their functional performance still falls short of prima…

Review on metabolism in stem cell derived beta cells from former PhD student with us, Frank Lin. Cell Reports @cp-cellreports.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Great advice here. The palettes with up to 8 colours look excellent for graphs and objects. (I'm a colourblind reader)

Stem Cell–Derived, Fully Differentiated Islets for Type 1 Diabetes | NEJM Zimislecel is an allogeneic stem cell–derived islet-cell therapy. Data on the safety and efficacy of zimislecel in persons with type 1 diabetes are needed. We conducted a phase 1–2 study of zimisle...

Stem cell islets for those living with T1D! www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Photograph of Mark Huising.

Mark Huising from University of California, Davis, presents research on how dynamic crosstalk within the islet shapes insulin release.

🗣️ Don’t miss today's debate “Are alpha cells and glucagon needed for islet function and glucose homoeostasis?”, chaired by Mark @huisinglab.bsky.social #EISG2025.

Our home-brewed PI3P and PI4P probes in neurons feels like blowing bubbles as a kid: fleeting, a little magical. I’m a Doubting Thomas at ❤️ & why I spend so much time learning to image & build probes. I need to see it to believe it. Too late for #fluorescencefriday but in time for #microscopymonday

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

U of A celebrates 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Protocol, advancing diabetes treatment | CityNews Edmonton Verlyn Olsen has experienced terrifying moments since being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the 80s.

edmonton.citynews.ca/2025/06/05/u...

uh.....