Symposium on “Recent Developments in Endocrinology and Diabetes” Honoring Dr. Werner A. Scherbaum

The symposium

In December 2007 an international symposium on recent developments in endocrinology and diabetes was held at the Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf. The symposium was to honor the 60^th birthday of Prof. Dr. Werner A. Scherbaum, Director of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Rheumatology at the University Hospital Düsseldorf and his achievements over the last three decades in the field of endocrinology and diabetes. Many colleagues of him with international reputation attended the meeting. They were now asked to summarize their contributions within this Special Issue of Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology and Diabetes.

In a captivating lecture, Dr. Derek LeRoith from the Diabetes Branch of the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, gave new insights into mouse models created to study the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Dr. LeRoith is one of the leading researchers worldwide in the diabetes field with almost 400 scientific papers published in highly ranked international journals. Here, he focused on new data on the risk of cancer development in obesity and in type 2 diabetes. Based on mouse models he hypothesized that hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia could activate the insulin receptor, the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor or hybrid receptors. Also, hyperinsulinemia may inhibit the expression and lower serum levels of IGF-binding protein-1 and may cause increased levels of “free” IGF-1 in the circulation which may activate the IGF-1 receptor [1].

Dr. Michele Solimena from the Technical University of Dresden is one of the world leading scientists in β-cell signalling. Most recently, he described a synergistic effect of glucose and growth hormone signalling between the islet-specific receptor tyrosine phosphatase ICA512 and the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 5 [2]. Here, Dr. Solimena and co-workers reviews current literature concerning proteomic analyses of the pancreatic islet including the insulin-producing β-cells [3] as well as the connection between islet cell signalling and the occurrence of pancreatic tumors [4].

The research of Dr. Eckhard Lammert, the new Director of the Institute for Animal Physiology at the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, is focusing his work on the islet cell niche. With a brilliant talk he gave new insights how pancreatic β-cells communicate and receive informations for their differentiation and function [5]. Within this Special Issue of Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology and Diabetes Dr. Lammert reviews the experimental support of the hypothesis that mutual signaling between insulin producing beta cells and pancreatic endothelial cells determines whether a person develops type II diabetes [6]. Moreover, he and his co-workers show that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key factor for pancreatic islet function [7].

Dr. Ezio Bonifacio from the Technical University of Dresden gave new insights into novel immune strategies for the treatment of type 1 diabetes [8]. With his talk he focused on the application of insulin for preventing type 1 diabetes mellitus in animal models as well as in patients with type 1 diabetes. Since clinical benefits are rare he gave an outline on “what to do to improve vaccination success in humans” including a multicenter trial which has now been initiated [9].

Within this Special Issue Dr. Stefan R. Bornstein from the University of Dresden and Dr. Licinio from the University of Miami raise the provocative question if the worldwide epidemic of obesity is a communicable feature of globalization [10]. There are several hints to support this hypothesis. Within the context of insulin resistance and obesity Dr. E. H. Schwarz, also from the University of Dresden describes an association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in HNF1α and insulin sensitivity [11] as well as a polymorphism in the perilipin gene and obesity [12]. In addition to that, Dr. Diethelm Tschöpe from the Ruhr University Bochum, Heart and Diabetes Center in Bad Oeynhausen provides an update on the connection between diabetes and heart failure [13]. Dr. Matthias Schott and collegues from the University of Duesseldorf reports on new cellular therapy approaches for the treatment of autoimmune endocrine diseases and endocrine malignancies [14] as well as on a new assay system for the detection of TSH receptor autoantibodies in autoimmune thyroid diseases [15]. Finally, Dr. Sven Schinner and Dr. Holger Willenberg, both from the University Hospital Duesseldorf, describe an association of impaired glucose metabolism in morbid obesity with hypoadiponectinaemia [16] as well as the function of interleukin-6 for aldosterone synthesis and in the communication between endothelial and adrenocortical cells [17].

References

• 1 LeRoith D, Novosyadlyy R, Gallagher EJ, Lann D, Vojayakumar A, Yakar S. Obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with an increased risk of developing cancer and a worse prognosis; epidemiological and mechanistic evidence.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 2 Mziaut H, Trajkovski M, Kersting S. et al . Synergy of glucose and growth hormone signalling in islet cells through ICA512 and STAT5.  Nat Cell Biol. 2006;  8 ((5)) 435-445
• 3 Meisterfeld R, Ehehalt F, Saeger HD, Solimena M. Pancreatic disorders and diabetes mellitus.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008;  1 1
• 4 Suess C, Solimena M. Proteomic profiling of ß-cells using a classical approach - two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008;  1 1
• 5 Konstantinova I, Nikolova G, Ohara-Imaizumi M. et al . EphA-Ephrin-A-mediated beta cell communication regulates insulin secretion from pancreatic islets.  Cell. 2007;  129 ((2)) 359-370
• 6 Lammert E. The vascular trigger of type II diabetes mellitus.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 7 Jabs N, Franklin I, Brenner MB. et al . Reduced insulin secretion and content in VEGF-A deficient mouse pancreatic islets.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 8 Bonifacio E, Achenbach P, Pan L, Ziegler AG. Mucosal insulin vaccination for type 1 diabetes prevention.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 9 Staeva-Vieira T, Peakman M, von HM. Translational mini-review series on type 1 diabetes: Immune-based therapeutic approaches for type 1 diabetes.  Clin Exp Immunol. 2007;  148 ((1)) 17-31
• 10 Bornstein SR, Erhart-Bornstein M, Wong ML, Licinio J. Is the worldwide epidemic of obesity a communicable feature of globalization.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 11 Bergman A, Li J, Selisko T. et al . The A98V Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) in Hepatic Nuclear Factor 1 alpha (HNF 1 alpha) is associated with insulin sensitivity and beta-cell Function.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 12 Bergman A, Li J, Reimann M. et al . Polymorphism in Perilipin gene (PLIN) are not associated with obesity and weight variation in people with high risk of type 2 diabetes.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 13 Stratmann B, Tschope D. Sweet Heart – contribution of metabolism in the development of heart failure in diabetes mellitus.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 14 Papewalis C, Jacobs B, Wuttke M, Schott M. Cellular therapies in endocrine diseases.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 15 Hermsen D, Liu C, Domberg J. et al . Comparison of a solid phase human versus porcine thyrotropin receptor-based immunoassay for the measurement of thyrotropin receptor antibodies in patients with thyroid diseases.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008;  1 1
• 16 Schinner S, Kempf K, Overmann H. et al . Association of impaired glucose metabolism in morbid obesity with hypoadiponectinaemia.  Horm Metab Res. 2008;  1 1
• 17 Willenberg HS, Ansurudeen I, Schebesta K. et al . The endothelium secretes interleukin-6 (IL-6) and induces IL-6 and aldosterone generation by adrenocortical cells.  Exp Clin Endocrinol Diab. 2008; 
• 18 Scherbaum WA, Schrell U, Gluck M, Fahlbusch R, Pfeiffer EF. Autoantibodies to pituitary corticotropin-producing cells: possible marker for unfavourable outcome after pituitary microsurgery for Cushing's disease.  Lancet. 1987;  1 ((8547)) 1394-1398
• 19 Scherbaum WA, Bottazzo GF. Autoantibodies to vasopressin cells in idiopathic diabetes insipidus: evidence for an autoimmune variant.  Lancet. 1983;  1 ((8330)) 897-901
• 20 Richter W, Endl J, Eiermann TH, Brandt M, Kientsch-Engel R, Thivolet C, Jungfer H, Scherbaum WA. Human monoclonal islet cell antibodies from a patient with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus reveal glutamate decarboxylase as the target antigen.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1992;  15; 89 ((18)) 8467-8471
• 21 Bornstein SR, Gonzalez-Hernandez JA, Ehrhart-Bornstein M, Adler G, Scherbaum WA. Intimate contact of chromaffin and cortical cells within the human adrenal gland forms the cellular basis for important intraadrenal interactions.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994;  78 ((1)) 225-232
• 22 Schott M, Scherbaum WA, Morgenthaler H. Thyrotropin receptor autoantibodies in Graves’ disease.  Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2005;  16 ((5)) 243-248
• 23 Schott M, Feldkamp J, Schattenberg D, Seissler J, Scherbaum WA. Dendritic cell immunotherapy in disseminated parathyroid carcinoma.  Lancet. 1999;  353 ((9159)) 1188-1189

Correspondence