Matilde Masini

TL;DR: These guidelines are presented for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes.

TL;DR: Extended exposure to FFAs has cytostatic and pro-apoptotic effects on human pancreatic beta-cells, likely to be due to the FFA-induced reduction of intraislet glucose metabolism, and the proapoptosis effects are mostly caspase mediated, partially dependent on ceramide pathway, and possibly Bcl-2 regulated.

TL;DR: Direct evidence is provided that enterovirus can infect β cells in patients with type 1 diabetes and that infection is associated with inflammation and functional impairment.

TL;DR: 24-h exposure to glutathione significantly improved glucose-stimulated insulin release and decreased nitrotyrosine concentration, with partial recovery of insulin mRNA expression, providing direct evidence that the defects of insulin secretion in type 2 diabetic islets are associated with multiple islet cell alterations.

TL;DR: The data support the view that pancreatic β-cells become dedifferentiated and convert to α- and δ-"like" cells in human type 2 diabetes, and should prompt a reassessment of goals in the prevention and treatment of β-cell dysfunction.