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    Diabetes. 2008 Aug;57(8):2137-48. Epub 2008 May 9.

    PANIC-ATTAC: a mouse model for inducible and reversible beta-cell ablation.

    Wang ZV, Mu J, Schraw TD, Gautron L, Elmquist JK, Zhang BB, Brownlee M, Scherer PE.

    Corresponding author: Philipp E. Scherer, philipp.scherer@utsouthwestern.edu.

    OBJECTIVE: Islet transplantations have been performed clinically, but their practical applications are limited. An extensive effort has been made toward the identification of pancreatic beta-cell stem cells that has yielded many insights to date, yet targeted reconstitution of beta-cell mass remains elusive. Here, we present a mouse model for inducible and reversible ablation of pancreatic beta-cells named the PANIC-ATTAC (pancreatic islet beta-cell apoptosis through targeted activation of caspase 8) mouse. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We efficiently induce beta-cell death through apoptosis and concomitant hyperglycemia by administration of a chemical dimerizer to the transgenic mice. In contrast to animals administered streptozotocin, the diabetes phenotype and beta-cell loss are fully reversible in the PANIC-ATTAC mice, and we find significant beta-cell recovery with normalization of glucose levels after 2 months. RESULTS: The rate of recovery can be enhanced by various pharmacological interventions with agents acting on the glucagon-like peptide 1 axis and agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma. During recovery, we find an increased population of GLUT2(+)/insulin(-) cells in the islets of PANIC-ATTAC mice, which may represent a novel pool of potential beta-cell precursors. CONCLUSIONS: The PANIC-ATTAC mouse may be used as an animal model of inducible and reversible beta-cell ablation and therefore has applications in many areas of diabetes research that include identification of beta-cell precursors, evaluation of glucotoxicity effects in diabetes, and examination of pharmacological interventions.

    PMID: 18469203 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    PMCID: 2494693

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    Patient drug information

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