Publications

Legend: * shared first, # shared corresponding authorship

2026

  1. Unger L, Larsen U, Legøy TA, Hossain MK, Gudmestad JH, Friestad A, Sharmine S, Njølstad PR, Ræder H, Herrera PL, Ghila L, Chera S. Defective HNF1A hinders GLI3 processing favouring duodenal versus pancreatic fate thus leading to intestinal elongation in vivo. Genes & Development 2026 Mar 26. doi: 10.1101/gad.353153.125. Online ahead of print.
  2. Nabel CS, Sussman CB, Whittaker CA, Butty VL, Peterson JL, Martin HK, Louissaint Jr. A, Bru-Tari E, Chera S, Ligon AH, Yeap BY, Herrera PL, Hung YP. Brief Report: Androgen receptor expression is associated with male predominance in thymic neuroendocrine neoplasms. JTO Clinical and Research Reports. 2026 Volume 7, Issue 4, April 2026, 100973. doi: 10.1016/j.jtocrr.2026.100973
  3. Daian LM, Vacaru AM, Tanko G, Lamba EM, Mardare OAM,  Ghila L,  Chera S, Vacaru AM. β-cell adaptation to increased insulin demand is a swift and dynamic process orchestrated by unfolded protein response. Cell Commun Signal .2026 , July 2026 online ahead of print doi: 10.1186/s12964-026-03110-9
  4. Kuznetsova KG, Vašíček J, Skiadopoulou D, Unger L,  Nethala RA, Wierer M, Ghila L,   Johansson S, Njølstad PR, Chera S, Johansson BB, Manning A, Vaudel M. βMODY Mutations in Transcription Factors HNF1A and HNF1B Affect the Production of Interferon Signaling Proteins: Evidence at the Proteome Level. PROTEOMICS (2026): e70166. doi: 10.1002/pmic.70166

2025

  1. Gudmestad JH, Unger L, Paulo JA, Ghila L,  Legøy TA. Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Exposure During Differentiation Alters the Proliferation-Maturation Balance in Stem-Cell islets. Toxicological Sciences doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfaf163
  2. Sharmine S, Legøy TA, Unger L, Paulo JA, Ghila L#, Chera S#. Caloric Restriction Substantially Improves Glucose Regulation in Mice With Hnf1a-Deficient Beta-Cells. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2025 Dec;241(12):e70121. doi: 10.1111/apha.70121.
  3. Unger L#, Larsen U, Sharmine S, Hossain MK, Legøy TA, Vaudel M, Ghila L, Chera S#. Efficient cytoplasmic cell quantification using a semi-automated FIJI-based tool. Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 28;15(1):27509. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-12144-x. 
  4. Sharmine S, Ghila L. Targeting Inflammation in Type 2 Diabetes: The Emerging Role of Decorin. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2025 Jun;241(6):e70049. doi: 10.1111/apha.70049
  5. Hossain MK, Unger L, Larsen U, Altankhuyag A, Legøy TA, Paulo JA, Vethe H, Ghila L. Mapping the initial effects of carcinogen-induced oncogenic transformation in the mouse bladder. Exp Cell Res. 2025 Volume 446, Issue 2, 15 March 2025, 114452. doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2025.114452.
  6. Vašíček J, Kuznetsova KG, Skiadopoulou D, Unger L, Chera S, Ghila LM, Bandeira N, Njølstad PR, Johansson S, Bruckner S, Käll L, Vaudel M. ProHap enables human proteomic database generation accounting for population diversity. Nat Methods 2025 Feb;22(2):273-277. Early online 9 December 2024 doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02506-0
  7. Kuznetsova KG, Vašíček J, Skiadopoulou D, Unger L, Nathala RA, Wierer M, Ghila L, Johansson S, Njølstad PR, Chera S, Johansson BB, Manning A, Vaudel M. MODY mutations in transcription factors HNF1A and HNF1B affect the production of interferon signaling proteins: evidence at the proteome level, BioRxiv Preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.24.690114
  8. Sharmine S, Unger L, Altankhuyag A, Legøy TA, Ghila L, Chera S. Livers of hyperglycemic mice with Hnf1a-deficient pancreatic beta-cells show unexpected hepatic steatosis signs further exacerbated by high fat diet, ResearchSquare Preprint; doi: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8013440/v1

2024

  1. Mathisen AF, Larsen U, Kavli N, Unger L, Vacaru AM, Daian LM, Vacaru A-M, Herrera PL, Ghila L, Chera S. Moderate beta-cell ablation triggers synergic compensatory mechanisms even in the absence of overt metabolic disruption. Commun Biol 7, 833 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06527-5
  2. *Mathisen AF, *Vacaru AM, Unger L, Lamba EM, Mardare OA, Daian LM, Ghila L, Vacaru AM#, Chera S#. Molecular profiling of NOD mouse islets reveals a novel regulator of insulitis onset. Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 25;14(1):14669. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-65454-x.
  3. Mathisen AF, Legøy TA, Larsen U, Unger L, Abadpour S, Paulo JA, Scholz H, Ghila L, Chera S. The age-dependent regulation of pancreatic islet landscape is fueled by a HNF1a-immune signaling loop. Mech Ageing Dev. 2024 May 31:111951. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2024.111951
  4. Unger L, Mathisen AF, Chera S, Legøy TA, Ghila L. The GLI code controls HNF1A levels during foregut differentiation. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 2024; 52: 220 doi: 10.1387/ijdb.230220lg
  5. Unger L, Ghila L, Chera S.Targeted Gene Silencing by Using GapmeRs in Differentiating Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSC) Toward Pancreatic Progenitors. Methods Mol Biol. 2024;2736:23-38. doi: 10.1007/7651_2023_498
  6. Wang C, Abadpour S, Olsen PA, Wang D, Stokowiec J, Chera S, Ghila L, Ræder H, Krauss S, Aizenshtadt A, Scholz H. Glucose Concentration in Regulating Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Differentiation Toward Insulin-Producing Cells. Transpl Int, 18 January 2024 https://doi.org/10.3389/ti.2024.11900
  7. Wang C, Abadpour S, Aizenshtadt A, Dalmao-Fernandez A, Høyem M, Wilhelmsen I, Stokowiec J, Olsen PA, Krauss S, Chera S, Ghila L, Ræder H,  Scholz H. Cell identity dynamics and insight into insulin secretagogues when employing stem cell-derived islets for disease modeling. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol., Sec. Organoids and Organ-On-A-Chip 12 June 2024 Volume 12 – 2024 https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2024.1392575
  8. Sinturel F, Chera S, Brulhart-Meynet MC, Montoya JP, Lefai E, Jornayvaz FR, D’Angelo G, Jung MK, Pataki Z, Riezman H, Dibner C. Alterations of lipid homeostasis in morbid obese patients are partly reversed by bariatric surgery. iScience Volume 27, Issue 9, 20 September 2024, 110820 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110820 MedRxiv 2023 10.1101/2023.06.12.23291122

2023

  1. Mathisen AF, Abadpour S, Legøy TA, Paulo JA, Ghila L, Scholz H, Chera S. Global proteomics reveals insulin abundance as a marker of human islet homeostasis alterations. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2023 Aug 24:e14037. doi: 10.1111/apha.14037. PMID: 37621186
  2. Chera S, Rentzsch F. Stem cells: The cell that does it all. Current Biology 2023 Jun 5;33(11):R434-R436. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.039
  3. Daian LM, Tanko G, Vacaru AM, Ghila L, Chera S, Vacaru A-M. Modulation of Unfolded Protein Response Restores Survival and Function of β-Cells Exposed to the Endocrine Disruptor Bisphenol A. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2023; 24(3):2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032023 
  4. Sinturel F, Chera S, Brulhart-Meynet MC, Montoya JP, Stenvers DJ, Bisschop PH, Kalsbeek A, Guessous I, Jornayvaz FR, Philippe J, Brown SA, D’Angelo G, Riezman H, Dibner C. Circadian organization of lipid landscape is perturbed in type 2 diabetic patients. Cell Rep Med. 2023 Nov 17:101299. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101299. PMID: 38016481

2022

  1. Petrenko V, Sinturel F, Loizides-Mangold U, Montoya JP, Chera S, Riezman H, Dibner C. Type 2 diabetes disrupts circadian orchestration of lipid metabolism and membrane fluidity in human pancreatic islets. PLoS Biology 2022 Aug 3;20(8):e3001725. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001725.
  2. Bhagchandani P., Chang C.A., Zhao W., Ghila L, Herrera PL, Chera S and Kim S. Islet cell replacement and transplantation immunology in a mouse strain with inducible diabetes. Scientific Reports 2022 12, 9033. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-13087-3 [BioRxiv 2021 preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.08.463702]
  3. Ghila L, Legøy TA, Chera S. A Method for Encapsulation and Transplantation into Diabetic Mice of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSC)-Derived Pancreatic Progenitors. In: Methods in Molecular Biology 2022;2454:327-349 Springer, New York, NY. doi: 10.1007/7651_2021_356
  4. Ghila L#, Furuyama K, Grey TS, Scholz H, Chera S#. Editorial: Beta-Cell Fate: From Gene Circuits to Disease Mechanisms Frontiers in Genetics 2022 Feb 4 doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.822440
  5. Carrasco M*, Wang C*, Søviknes AM*, Bjørlykke Y*, Abadpour S, Paulo JA, Tjora E, Njølstad P, Ghabayen J, Nermoen I, Lyssenko V, Chera S, Ghila LM, Vaudel M, Scholz H, Ræder H. Spatial Environment Affects HNF4A Mutation-Specific Proteome Signatures and Cellular Morphology in hiPSC-Derived β-Like Cells. Diabetes. 2022 Apr 1;71(4):862-869. doi: 10.2337/db20-1279. PMID: 35043148
  6. Berle M, Hestetun KE, Vethe H, Chera S, Paulo JA, Dahl O, Myklebust MP. Mapping Proteome Changes in Microsatellite Stable, Recurrent Colon Cancer Reveals a Significant Immune System Signature. Cancer Genomics Proteomics. 2022 Mar-Apr;19(2):130-144. doi: 10.21873/cgp.20309. PMID: 35181583

2021

  1. Ghila L#, Legøy TA, Mathisen AF, Abadpour S, Paulo JA, Scholz H, Ræder H, Chera S#. Chronically Elevated Exogenous Glucose Elicits Antipodal Effects on the Proteome Signature of Differentiating Human iPSC-Derived Pancreatic Progenitors. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021; 22(7):3698. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22073698
  2. Oropeza D*, Cigliola V*, Romero A*, Chera S, Rodríguez-Seguí SA#, Herrera PL#. Stage-specific transcriptomic changes in pancreatic α-cells after massive β-cell loss. BMC Genomics 2021; Aug 2;22(1):585. doi: 10.1186/s12864-021-07812-x.
  3. Wang C, Abadpour S, Aizenshtadt A, Chera S, Ghila L, Ræder H, Scholz H. 402.2: High Glucose Concentration Increases KATP Channel Activity but Suppresses Mitochondrial Respiration Ability in Insulin-producing Cells Regenerated From Stem Cells. Transplantation. 2021 Dec 1;105(12S1):S27. doi: 10.1097/01.tp.0000804436.14096.44.

2020

  1. Legøy TA*, Vethe H*, Abadpour S, Strand BL, Scholz H, Paulo JA, Ræder H, Ghila L, Chera S. Encapsulation boosts islet-cell signature in differentiating human induced pluripotent stem cells via integrin signaling. Scientific Reports 2020 Jan 15;10(1):414. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-57305-x [BioRxiv 2019 Oct 04, preprint doi: 10.1101/791442]
  2. Legøy TA, Mathisen AF, Salim Z, Vethe H, Bjørlykke Y, Abadpour S, Paulo JA, Scholz H, Raeder H, Ghila L, Chera S. In vivo Environment Swiftly Restricts Human Pancreatic Progenitors Toward Mono-Hormonal Identity via a HNF1A/HNF4A Mechanism. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 2020 Feb 25;8:109. eCollection 2020. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00109
  3. Legøy TA, Ghila L, Vethe H, Abadpour S, Mathisen AF, Paulo JA, Scholz H, Raeder H, Chera S. In vivo hyperglycemia exposure elicits distinct period-dependent effects on human pancreatic progenitor differentiation, conveyed by oxidative stress. Acta Physiologica (Oxf) 2020 Apr;228(4):e13433. Epub 2020 Jan 8. doi: 10.1111/apha.13433. PMID:31872528
  4. Cigliola V, Ghila L, Chera S, Herrera PL. Tissue repair brakes: A common paradigm in the biology of regeneration: Concise review. Stem Cells 2020 Mar;38(3):330-339. doi: 10.1002/stem.3118. PMID:31722129 Epub 2019 Nov 28.
  5. Ghila L#, Bjørlykke Y, Legøy TA, Vethe H, Furuyama K, Chera S, Ræder H# Bioinformatic Analyses of miRNA-mRNA Signature during hiPSC Differentiation towards Insulin-Producing Cells upon HNF4α Mutation Biomedicines 2020 Jun 27;8(7):E179. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines8070179. PMID: 32605028
  6. Petrenko V, Stolovich-Rain M, Vandereycken B, Giovannoni L, Storch KF, Dor Y, Chera S, Dibner C. The core clock transcription factor BMAL1 drives circadian beta-cell proliferation during compensatory regeneration of the endocrine pancreas Genes and Development 2020 Dec 1;34:1650-1665 doi: 10.1101/gad.343137.120
In 2020, Simona was a guest editor for a Research Topic in Frontiers in Genetics, which aimed to provide a comprehensive picture of current studies focused on molecular circuits involved in insulin-producing beta cell’s development, function and dysfunction, touching multiple aspects of islet niche. For more details, please follow this link.

2019

  1. Bjørlykke Y, Søviknes AM, Hoareau L, Vethe H, Mathisen AF, Chera S, Vaudel M, Ghila LM, Ræder H. Reprogrammed Cells Display Distinct Proteomic Signatures Associated with Colony Morphology Variability. Stem Cells International 2019 Nov 18;2019:8036035. doi: 10.1155/2019/8036035. PMID:31827534

  2. Vethe H, Ghila L, Hoareau L, Bjørlykke Y, Berle M, Haaland ØA, Hoareau L, Paulo J, Scholz H, Chera S, Ræder H. Modulating Wnt signaling in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived S7 cells. Frontiers in Endocrinolology 2019, 08 May doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00293.


  3. Furuyama K, Chera S, van Gurp L, Oropeza D, Ghila L, Damond N, Vethe H, Paulo JA, Joosten AM, Berney T, Bosco D, Dorrell C, Grompe M, Ræder H, Roep BO, Thorel F, Herrera PL, Diabetes relief in mice by glucose-sensing insulin-secreting human α-cells, Nature 2019 567: 43–48 doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-0942-8

2018

  1. Berle M#, Ghila L, Vethe H, Chaudhry A, Garberg H, Beisland C, Haaland ØA, Oveland E, Halvorsen OJ, Davidsson T, Chera S#. Novel protein signatures suggest progression to muscular invasiveness in bladder cancer. PLoS One 2018 Nov 12;13(11):e0206475. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206475. PMID: 30419021
  2. Cigliola V*, Ghila L*, Thorel F*, van Gurp L, Baronnier D, Gupta S, Miyatsuka T, Kaneto H, Magnuson MA, Osipovich AB, Sander M, Wright C, Thomas MK, Furuyama K, Chera S and Herrera PL. Pancreatic Islet-Autonomous Signals Modulate Identity Changes of Glucagon+ α-Cells, Nature Cell Biology 2018 Nov;20(11):1267-1277. doi: 10.1038/s41556-018-0216-y PMID: 30361701

2017

  1. Vethe H, Bjørlykke Y, Ghila LM, Paulo JA, Scholz H, Gygi SP, Chera S, Ræder H. Probing the missing mature β-cell proteomic landscape in differentiating patient iPSC-derived cells. Scientific Reports 2017 Jul 6;7(1):4780. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-04979-w. PMID: 28684784
  2. Chakravarthy H, Gu X, Enge M, Dai X, Wang Y, Damond N, Downie C, Liu K, Wang J, Xing Y, Chera S, Thorel F, Quake S, Oberholzer J, MacDonald PE, Herrera PL, Kim SK. Converting Adult Pancreatic Islet α Cells into β Cells by Targeting Both Dnmt1 and Arx, Cell Metabolism 2017 25(3):622-634. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.01.009 PMID:28215845

2016

  1. Chera S, Herrera PL. Regeneration of Pancreatic Insulin-Producing Cells by In Situ Adaptive Cell Conversion, 2016 Current Opinion in Genetics and Development 40:1-10, PMID: 27266969
  2. Cigliola V, Thorel F, Chera S, Herrera PL. Stress-Induced Islet Cell Identity Changes, 2016 Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism 18 (Suppl 1):87-96. doi: 10.1111/dom.12726 PMID: 27615136

Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Regeneration in Pancreas

  1. Chera S, Baronnier-Caffé D, Ghila L, Cigliola V, Jensen JN, Gu G, Furuyama K, Thorel F, Gribble FM, Reimann F, Herrera PL. Diabetes recovery by age-dependent conversion of pancreatic δ- or α-cells into insulin producers 2014 Nature 514(7523):503-507. PMID: 25141178
  2. Fujikawa T, Berglund ED, Patel VR, Ramadori G, Vianna CR, Vong L, Thorel F, Chera S, Herrera PL, Lowell BB, Elmquist JK, Baldi P, Coppari R. Leptin engages a hypothalamic neurocircuitry to permit survival in the absence of insulin 2013Cell Metabolism 18(3):431-44. PMID: 24011077
  3. Thorel F, Damond N, Chera S, Wiederkehr A, Thorens B, Meda P, Wollheim CB, Herrera PL. Normal glucagon signaling and β-cell function after near-total α-cell ablation in adult mice 2011 Diabetes 60(11):2872-82. PMID: 21926270
  4. Thorel F*, Nepote V*, Avril I*, Kohno K, Desgraz R, Chera S, Herrera PL. Conversion of Adult Pancreatic a-cells to b-cells After Extreme b-cell Loss 2010Nature 464(7292):1149-54. PMID: 20364121

Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Regeneration in Hydra

  1. Chera S, Ghila L, Wenger Y, Galliot B. Injury-induced activation of the MAPK/CREB pathway triggers apoptosis-induced compensatory proliferation in hydra head regeneration 2011 Dev Growth Differ. 53(2):186-201 PMID: 21338345
  2. Galliot B, Chera S. The Hydra model: disclosing an apoptosis-driven generator of Wnt-based regeneration 2010 Trends Cell Biol. 20(9):514-23 PMID: 20691596
  3. Chera S, Ghila L, Dobretz K, Wenger Y, Bauer C, Buzgariu WC, Martinou JC, Galliot B. Apoptotic cells provide an unexpected source of Wnt3 signaling to drive hydra head regeneration 2009 Dev. Cell 17(2)279-89 PMID: 19686688
  4. Chera S, Buzgariu W, Ghila L, Galliot B. Autophagy in Hydra: a response to starvation and stress in early animal evolution 2009 Biochim Biophys Acta 1793(9):1432-43 PMID: 19362111
  5. Galliot B, Quiquand M, Ghila L, de Rosa R, Miljkovic-Licina M, Chera S. Origins of neurogenesis, a cnidarian view 2009 Developmental Biology 332(1), 2-24 PMID: 19465018
  6. Buzgariu W, Chera S, Galliot B. Methods to investigate autophagy during starvation and regeneration in Hydra 2008 Methods in Enzymology 451, 409-37 PMID: 19185734
  7. Miljkovic-Licina M, Chera S, Ghila L, Galliot B. Head regeneration in wild-type hydra requires de novo neurogenesis 2007 Development 134:1191-1201 PMID: 17301084
  8. Galliot B, Miljkovic-Licina M, Ghila L, Chera S. RNAi gene silencing affects cell and developmental plasticity in hydra 2007 C. R. Biol. 330:491-497 PMID: 17631443
  9. Chera S, Kaloulis K, Galliot B. The cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) as an integrative HUB selector in metazoans: clues from the hydra model system 2007 BioSystems 87:191-203 PMID: 17030409
  10. Chera S*, de Rosa R*, Miljkovic-Licina M, Dobretz K, Ghila L, Kaloulis K, Galliot B. Silencing of the hydra serine protease inhibitor Kazal1 gene mimics the human SPINK1 pancreatic phenotype 2006 J. Cell Sci. 119:846-857  PMID: 16478786
  11. Galliot B, Miljkovic-Licina M, de Rosa R, Chera S. Hydra, a niche for cell and developmental plasticity 2006 Sem. Cell Dev. Biol. 17:492-502 PMID: 16807002
  12. Gauchat D, Escriva H, Miljkovic-Licina M, Chera S, Langlois MC, Begue A, Laudet V, Galliot B. The orphan COUP-TF nuclear receptors are markers for neurogenesis from cnidarians to vertebrates 2004 Developmental Biology 275:104-123 PMID: 15464576
  13. Kaloulis K, Chera S, Hassel M, Gauchat D, Galliot B. Reactivation of developmental programs: the CREB pathway is involved in hydra head regeneration 2004 Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101:2363-2368 PMID: 14983015