Rethinking Music from and through Materiality and Fragility

Neurogenin 3+ cells contribute to β-cell neogenesis and proliferation in injured adult mouse pancreas

Abstract: We previously showed that injury by partial duct ligation (PDL) in adult mouse pancreas activates Neurogenin 3 (Ngn3)(+) progenitor cells that can differentiate to beta cells ex vivo. Here we evaluate the role of Ngn3(+) cells in beta cell expansion in situ. PDL not only induced doubling of the beta cell volume but also increased the total number of islets. beta cells proliferated without extended delay (the so-called 'refractory' period), their proliferation potential was highest in small islets, and 86% of the beta cell expansion was attributable to proliferation of pre-existing beta cells. At sufficiently high Ngn3 expression level, upto 14% of all beta cells and 40% of small i…

Inhibition of DNA damage response at telomeres improves the detrimental phenotypes of Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome

Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a genetic disorder characterized by premature aging features. Cells from HGPS patients express progerin, a truncated form of Lamin A, which perturbs cellular homeostasis leading to nuclear shape alterations, genome instability, heterochromatin loss, telomere dysfunction and premature entry into cellular senescence. Recently, we reported that telomere dysfunction induces the transcription of telomeric non-coding RNAs (tncRNAs) which control the DNA damage response (DDR) at dysfunctional telomeres. Here we show that progerin-induced telomere dysfunction induces the transcription of tncRNAs. Their functional inhibition by sequence-specific telomer…