Biological Activity
ws6 is a small-molecule inducer of β cell proliferation [1].β cells are a subset of cells in the pancreatic islets and play an important role in regulating glucose homeostasis through the production of insulin [1].ws6 is a small-molecule inducer of β cell proliferation. in mouse β cell line r7t1, ws6 induced cell proliferation with ec50 value of 0.28 μm. ws6 was very active in primary human and rodent islets. in primary rat and human β cells, ws6 induced rat β cell proliferation with ec50 value of 0.4 μm and increased 4% of rat β cells and 3% of human β cells to proliferate. in intact islet cultures, ws6 significantly induced proliferation [1]. in cultured human islets, ws6 induced β cell proliferation and also α cell proliferation. however, ws6 didn’t influence the expression of β cell-specific transcription factors and the amount of insulin-positive β cells, which suggested that ws6 didn’t influence β cell differentiation and human islet cell viability [2].in type 1 diabetes (t1d) mice, ws6 significantly reduced blood glucose and increased β cell proliferation from 3.8% to 6.4% [1].
References
[1]. shen w, tremblay ms, deshmukh va, et al. small-molecule inducer of β cell proliferation identified by high-throughput screening. j am chem soc, 2013, 135(5): 1669-1672.
[2]. boerner bp, george nm, mir su, et al. ws6 induces both alpha and beta cell proliferation without affecting differentiation or viability. endocr j, 2015, 62(4): 379-386.
