Husna, Amity University Kolkata
A resistance to the hormone insulin is known as insulin resistance. It is present in one-quarter of the general population, not just in people with diabetes or obesity. These individuals are at high risk for developing metabolic disorders and a wide-range of diseases. Due to insulin resistance, the body’s cells don’t respond normally to insulin. Glucose can’t enter cells easily which leads to build-up of glucose in the blood.
Recent Study:
A recent study by Harvard Medical School researchers at Joslin Diabetes center was aimed to identify the cell-intrinsic determinants of insulin resistance in the insulin resistant part of the population.
Purpose of the study:
Insulin is known to be important for controlling blood glucose levels, but most people don’t realize how important insulin is for all aspects of metabolism—not just sugar, but lipids, amino acids, and proteins too. So, the purpose of the study is to analyze how insulin signaling is altered in cells of people who are insulin resistant.
Methodology:
The study was done using IPS cell-derived myoblasts (iMyos) It is a stem-cell modeling system that can be used to investigate cell-specific changes in signaling along with a technique called phosphoproteomics. Stem cells used in the study were derived from blood cells of non-diabetic people who were either insulin sensitive or resistant. This helped to investigate differences in cellular signaling both in the absence and presence of insulin stimulation, and also helped to determine how insulin resistance or sensitivity affected signaling in a series of different pathways.
Salient features of the study:
- A comprehensive network of altered protein phosphorylation and signaling defects were observed in the cells of non-diabetic individuals.
- Critical nodes of signaling changes that are shared with type 2 diabetic people were uncovered as well.
- On the basis of the sex of cell donors, some striking differences were noted in the phosphoproteome fingerprint with regard to insulin sensitivity in the cells of males and females.
- A portion of these cell-autonomous signaling defects were also observed in people with diabetes which points towards the existence of novel pathways behind insulin resistance in general population.
Future aspects:
This study can serve as a basis for the development of new therapeutics to tackle insulin resistance which is a major driver of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Further research needs to be done for identification of the regulators that are responsible for the phosphoproteome changes associated with insulin resistance, and for the drastic differences on the basis of sex. The invention of critical nodes in insulin resistance could also serve as new targets for the event of future therapies.
Reference:
- Haider, N., Lebastchi, J., Jayavelu, A. K., Batista, T. M., Pan, H., Dreyfuss, J. M., Carcamo-Orive, I., Knowles, J. W., Mann, M., & Kahn, C. R. (2021). Signaling defects associated with insulin resistance in non-diabetic and diabetic individuals and modification by sex. Journal of Clinical Investigation. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI151818
Author info:
Husna is an undergraduate student of BTech Biotechnology at Amity University Kolkata. She is a research enthusiast in Immunology and Immunotherapy but she has a keen interest in various other Bioscience subjects as well. Husna is constantly focused on improving her knowledge and laboratory skills through various internships. She is a Scientific content writer who has knowledge in diverse backgrounds of Biotechnology.
Publications:
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