Characterization of pancreatic beta cells after their in vitro proliferation induced by synthetic modified mRNA

The origin and development of type I. and II. diabetes mellitus is directly related to homeostasis of proliferation and apoptosis of pancreatic β-cells. Any imbalance that leads to a decrease in the number of β-cells consequently increases the pro- bability of developing this disease. Patients suffering from diabetes mellitus are de- pendent on partial or complete exogenous insulin replacement, as their pancreas is unable to meet the body's insulin needs. Therefore a need for restoration of normal β-cell mass in diabetic patients leads to the attempts to develop new therapeutic approaches that could expand remaining β-cells of the organism and restore phys- iological insulin production. A major obstacle in this regard is a low sensitivity of terminally differentiated β-cells to mitogenic stimuli that could induce the entry of β-cells into the cell cycle. Activation of β-cell proliferation is associated with the G0/G1/S cell cycle transi- tion, which is under the control of retinoblastoma protein (RB). In order to activate cell cycle entry RB must be phosphorylated. RB phosphorylation is provided by specific cell cycle regulators, particularly cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6, which associate with family D cyclins. In accordance with the aim of this Diploma thesis, the effect of these cell cycle..