Islet Biology and Inflammation

Faculty

Jason Collier, PhD

Jason Collier, PhD


Research Focus

The goal of this laboratory is to understand the basic mechanisms regulating inflammation, proliferation, and insulin secretion in pancreatic beta-cells. Mapping out the signaling pathways that reduce proliferation and impair insulin secretion are relevant to the eventual onset of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

About this Lab

The laboratory focuses on understanding the inflammatory processes relevant to the eventual onset of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, with emphasis on pancreatic beta-cells. In the lab, researchers work on elucidating the transcriptional mechanism(s) of cytokine responsive genes has evolved into projects that investigate how islet beta-cells influence leukocytic recruitment and activity within the exocrine and endocrine pancreas, and seek to understand intracellular signaling pathways regulating adaptive changes in antigen presentation, proliferation, insulin secretion, immune cell recruitment, and cellular viability.  

Approaches are truly interdisciplinary, involving bioanalytical mass spectrometry, cell culture models, proliferation and transcriptional assays, fluorescence microscopy, immunological and enzymatic assays, and novel transgenic animal models.