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Pfizer Global Research and Development, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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Editor’s note: Glucokinase is an important enzyme within the
β cell, as it mediates the first step in glucose metabolism and plays a vital role in glucose sensing. Drugs that activate glucokinase are under clinical investigation for the treatment of type 2 diabetes; thus, studying their effects on
β-cell function is important. In the present study, the investigators assessed two different glucokinase activators and showed that activation of glucokinase both increased proliferation of
β cells and reduced apoptotic rates (programmed cell death). This suggests that glucokinase activators may have an important trophic effect on
β cells and if translated into a clinical arena, might provide a novel mechanism for preserving
β-cell function in type 2 diabetes.