Sing-Young Chen

I study the regulation of protein translation in pancreatic beta-cells. Pancreatic beta-cells are the only cells in the body that secrete insulin, a peptide hormone that lowers blood glucose. Therefore, beta-cells must synthesise and process large quantities of protein. In diabetes, beta-cells are subject to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, when insulin demand overwhelms the cell's capacity to process proteins. Therefore, it is important to understand how beta-cells cope with ER stress and what regulatory components of the cell are involved in resolving ER stress and promoting cell survival.