Heterobivalent Ligands Crosslink Multiple Receptors for Targeting of Pancreatic β-cell to Monitor β-cell Mass

摘要

Dysfunction and loss of pancreatic p-cells is the primary cause of Diabetes, and is observed during the immunological destruction of P-cells in insulin dependent (Type 1) Diabetes Mellitus. The ability to monitor changes in β-cell mass (BCM) and function is critical to analyzing the developing pathology, as well as the efficacy of treatments. Specific ligands targeting single-receptors have been limited by poor discrimination between P-cells and other cell types within the imaging field such as non-endocrine pancreatic cells and hepatocytes. Development of approaches to improve specificity for P-cells is required to facilitate these in vivo analyses.