Scientists Discover new clues to origin of Diabetes
By jayita, Gaea News NetworkWednesday, October 13, 2010
A new horizon has been found in case of diabetes treatment. Scientists have identified some events inside insulin-producing pancreatic cells that is assumed to be the root cause of non-autoimmune type 1 diabetes. This can also play a major role in type 2 diabetes.
University of Michigan scientists has hinted about specific drugs that can be used as a protective measure to diabetes.
The research shows that certain insulin gene mutations involved in neonatal diabetes cause portion of the proinsulin proteins in the pancreas’ beta cells to misfold.
According to the study, certain insulin gene mutations involved neonatal diabetes causes a portion of the proinsulin proteins in the pancreas’ beta cells to misfold.
Peter Arvan, the study’s senior author said, “Once the ‘good’ proinsulin turns ‘bad,’ it cannot be made into insulin and so the beta cells, and then the whole animal, become insulin deficient. The insulin deficiency causes diabetes and from there, things get worse and worse”.
It has been observed that misfolding occurred in normal proinsulin protein when mutant proinsulin protein was present. They scientists also found that the same aberrant events in the pancreatic beta cells of Akita mice, a mouse model with the same mutation that occurs in a human family with neonatal diabetes.
Diabetes researchers also gives clue about why beta cells in the pancreas fail in diabetes. The study found that each of the mutations examined led to ER stress and the ER stress response in beta cells, but that these ER events alone could not block insulin production in normal beta cells and do not appear to be the origin of the insulin deficiency.
