{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Peptide Puzzle: Dr. Yi-Chun Chen on Early Markers for Diabetes and Obesity","description":"Yi-Chun Chen (PhD) is taking a close-up look at some of the body\u2019s hardest-working cells \u2014 the ones often processing an overabundance of modern-day food and nutrients. \u201cFrom an evolutionary point of view, our cells are not designed to deal with that,\u201d said Chen, who joined the department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology at the University of Saskatchewan last year as an assistant professor. She said our bodies are pushed into churning out large amounts of insulin rapidly after snacks and meals, \u201cwhich makes the beta cells work extra hard.\u201d Raised in Taiwan and inspired by her grandfather\u2014a retired elementary school science teacher\u2014Chen\u2019s fascination with biology first led her to work as a medical laboratory technologist, then to the world of cellular research. Using both rodent and human models, Chen is studying pancreatic beta cells: the way they process peptide hormones like insulin and how their behaviour and function is affected by an excess of nutrients. With high-resolution imaging, she and her team are examining how both humans and mice synthesize, process, and clear peptide hormones. \u201cThere are a lot of things we still don't know about peptide hormones, not just in the pancreas, but in the brain, in the gut,\u201d she said. \u201cThose are fascinating.\u201d Last year, Chen was the recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Research Excellence, Diversity, and Independence Early Career Transition Award. After moving from UBC to Saskatoon, Dr. Chen said feels considerable support already from her established and mid-career prairie colleagues. \u201cThey can mentor us and guide us, and we also have a group of five or six young scientists,\u201d she said. \u201cI can envision myself working on many, many interesting projects with them.\u201d Her goal today is to identify biomarkers that could predict diabetes far earlier. She hopes to develop biochemical assays that measure proinsulin levels to serve as an early warning system. This could enable interventions months or even years before a traditional diagnosis based on blood glucose levels. \u201cWe want to be able to predict the development of, for example, type 1 or type 2 diabetes before they are diagnosed,\u201d said Chen. In the long term, Chen envisions both preventative strategies and regenerative therapies to fight diabetes. Stem cell-derived beta cells may be a future solution, she said. \u201cWe are making really good progress in Canada, actually. We have clinical trials. We\u2019re putting the stem cell\u2013derived beta cells into patients with type 1 diabetes.\u201d She hopes this will one day reduce the need for constant insulin injections, even helping curb  obesity. \u201cDon\u2019t give up,\u201d Chen said. \u201cWe are passionate and we want to work on many, many things.\u201d \u201cIf you like it, keep going.\u201d ","author_name":"Researchers Under the Scope","author_url":"https:\/\/medicine.usask.ca\/research\/index.php#ConnectWithUs","html":"