New Potential Target for Type 2 Diabetes

Filed in archive Challenges , Developments , Research on June 14, 2007

A potential new target for treating type 2 diabetes has been discovered by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

The said target is a protein (and its molecular partner) that regulates the metabolism of fat: the protein Akt2/PKB and its molecular partner PGC-1a.

[This study shows that when insulin is present, as it is after a meal, the protein Akt2/PKB adds a phosphate group to its molecular partner PGC-1a. When this happens, PGC-1a cannot activate the genes needed for fat metabolism.]

According to lead author Morris J. Birnbaum, MD, PhD, the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at Penn and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute:

"Over the last 10 years, we have begun to understand the importance of fat metabolism in diabetes. Type 2 diabetics are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease because they also have disorders in fat metabolism as a result of obesity and abnormal insulin action."

Findings of this study suggest that if a drug could induce Akt2/PKB to add the phosphate group (phosphorylation) to PGC-1a, so that the liver of a diabetic might be "fooled" into stopping the oxidation of fat stores.

Currently, there is no diabetes drug or any drug for that matter that targets PGC-1a and Akt2/PKB.

Dr. Birnbaum is hopeful that drug companies will look for new ways to modify fat metabolism in type 2 diabetics using these possible targets.

These were all recently reported in Nature.

Read the full report.