Preface -- Systems biology of β-cells - revisited -- Established facts and open questions of the focused systems analysis of regulated exocytosis in β-cells – a background for a focused systems analysis approach -- Mitochondria and metabolic signals in β-cells -- β-cell ontogenesis and the insulin production apparatus -- The role of the cytoskeleton in transport and release of the insulin-containing granules by pancreatic β-cells -- The mathematical microscope making the inaccessible accessible -- Magnetic resonance imaging of pancreatic β-cells -- Mapping the β-cell in 3D at the nanoscale using novel cellular electron tomography and computational approaches -- In vivo applications of inorganic nanoparticles -- Cell cultivation and sensor-based assays for dynamic measurements of cell vitality: basic concepts -- Bioimpedance spectroscopy -- DNA variations, impaired insulin secretion and type-2 diabetes -- Genetically programmed defects in β-cell function -- Proteomic analysis of the pancreatic islet β-cell secretory granule: current understanding and future opportunities -- Physiological and pathophysiological role of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP, amylin) - a role in the pathogenesis of type-2 diabetes -- Present state of islet transplantation for type-1 diabetes patients -- Predictive protein networks and identification of drugable targets in the β-cell -- Nanotoxicity -- From silicon cell to silicon human -- Probing cellular dynamics with mesoscopic simulations -- What drives calcium oscillations in β-cells? new tasks for cyclic analysis -- Whole-body and cellular models of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion -- Geometric and electromagnetic aspects of fusion pore making -- Index.

The insulin secreting β-cell is one of the most specialized cell types with diverse and multi-functional components (genes, gene products, organelles and metabolites) and a multitude of regulatory strategies in response to internal and environmental signals. This book looks at the technological advances that make simultaneous detection of thousands of biological variables possible; at a substantial variety of mathematical models and numerical simulations that aim to explain major aspects of the β-cell function; and at the challenge to formulate a comprehensive and robust model of the main networks of the underlying biochemical and physical processes for diagnostic and therapeutic use.