“Modeling intra-cellular insulin dynamics in pancreatic Beta cells”

In this talk, I will discuss the role of cytoskeletal processes in regulating insulin dynamics in pancreatic cells. Due to the increasing prevalence of diabetes and related disorders, understanding how individual cells regulate insulin availability and secretion in response to glucose stimulation is of utmost importance.

I will focus on the intra-cellular (rather than systemic) dynamics of insulin and will discuss a collection of investigations aimed at better understanding those dynamics. In particular, I will discuss how transport processes regulate insulin localization and availability, how the particular cytoskeletal structures in these cells are constructed, and how insulin interacts with the cell’s membrane to be secreted.

In each case, I will discuss how computational modeling combined with new experimental observations (collaboration with Kaverina lab at Vanderbilt Cell and Dev. Biol.) has yielded insights into how cells modulate insulin dynamics at the single-cell level, and how these insights point to new potential ways to regulate insulin dynamics.