Patent ID: 7745216

Claim:
A method for promoting the growth of glucose non-responsive pancreatic cells, comprising contacting glucose non-responsive pancreatic cells with an amount of a composition comprising peptide YY (PYY) or an agonist thereof effective to promote growth of glucose non-responsive pancreatic cells, wherein the glucose non-responsive pancreatic cells include endocrine cells, and wherein said agonist is a polypeptide with at least 80% sequence identity to PYY or a fragment of PYY, and wherein the PYY or agonist thereof is a polypeptide encoded by the nucleic acid sequence that hybridizes under stringent conditions, including a wash step of 0.2×SSC at 65° C., to SEQ ID No. 1, and that binds a PYY receptor and promotes glucose responsiveness of glucose non-responsive pancreatic cells.