Editorial: Beta-Cell Fate: From Gene Circuits to Disease Mechanisms

We had the pleasure to co-edit a Research Topic at Frontiers in Genetics and Frontiers in Endocrinology, aiming to provide a sample of current work focused on molecular pathways and cellular processes involved in the development, function, and dysfunction of β-cells, touching multiple aspects of islet niche and diabetes progression.

The collection was edited by 5 guest editors: Simona Chera, Luiza Ghila, Hanne Scholz (Norway); Kenichiro Furuyama (Japan) and Shane T Grey (Australia).
The main goal of this collection was to provide a snapshot of current research at molecular, cellular and islet level.
A total of 11 articles were published between May 2020 and December 2021 including 7 original research articles, 1 case report, 2 mini-reviews and 1 review.
The Research Topic had 36392 page views until today, with the following top 4 visualizations:
1. 1. Moss ND and Sussel L (2020) mRNA Processing: An Emerging Frontier in the Regulation of Pancreatic β Cell Function. Front. Genet. 11:983. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00983 (7005 views)
  2. Villalba A, Rodriguez-Fernandez S, Perna-Barrull D, Ampudia R-M, Gomez-Muñoz L, Pujol-Autonell I, Aguilera E, Coma M, Cano-Sarabia M, Vázquez F, Verdaguer J and Vives-Pi M (2020) Repurposed Analog of GLP-1 Ameliorates Hyperglycemia in Type 1 Diabetic Mice Through Pancreatic Cell Reprogramming. Front. Endocrinol. 11:258. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.00258 (6207 views) – 6 citations
  3. Keindl M, Fedotkina O, du Plessis E, Jain R, Bergum B, Mygind Jensen T, Laustrup Møller C, Falhammar H, Nyström T, Catrina S-B, Jörneskog G, Groop L, Eliasson M, Eliasson B, Brismar K, Nilsson PM, Berg TJ, Appel S and Lyssenko V (2020) Increased Plasma Soluble Interleukin-2 Receptor Alpha Levels in Patients With Long-Term Type 1 Diabetes With Vascular Complications Associated With IL2RA and PTPN2 Gene Polymorphisms. Front. Endocrinol. 11:575469. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.575469 (3180 views)
  4. Aga H, Hallahan N, Gottmann P, Jaehnert M, Osburg S, Schulze G, Kamitz A, Arends D, Brockmann G, Schallschmidt T, Lebek S, Chadt A, Al-Hasani H, Joost H-G, Schürmann A and Vogel H (2020) Identification of Novel Potential Type 2 Diabetes Genes Mediating β-Cell Loss and Hyperglycemia Using Positional Cloning. Front. Genet. 11:567191. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.567191 (3141 views)
Top 3 cited articles are the following:
1. 1. Villalba A, Rodriguez-Fernandez S, Perna-Barrull D, Ampudia R-M, Gomez-Muñoz L, Pujol-Autonell I, Aguilera E, Coma M, Cano-Sarabia M, Vázquez F, Verdaguer J and Vives-Pi M (2020) Repurposed Analog of GLP-1 Ameliorates Hyperglycemia in Type 1 Diabetic Mice Through Pancreatic Cell Reprogramming. Front. Endocrinol. 11:258. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.00258 – 6 citations
  2. Bru-Tari E, Oropeza D and Herrera PL (2021) Cell Heterogeneity and Paracrine Interactions in Human Islet Function: A Perspective Focused in β-Cell Regeneration Strategies. Front. Endocrinol. 11:619150. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.619150 – 2 citations
  3. Lenghel A, Gheorghita AM, Vacaru AM and Vacaru A-M (2021) What Is the Sweetest UPR Flavor for the β-cell? That Is the Question. Front. Endocrinol. 11:614123. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.614123 – 2 citations
A summary of the articles included in this Research Topic Collection is presented in our editorial.