The biggest difference anyone made to the wellbeing of people with diabetes came with the discovery of insulin nearly a century ago. Though your wellness was still at risk from this chronic disease, it was no longer a death sentence. Today, the lives of people managing diabetes may be improved dramatically once again, thanks to a new discovery made by researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
For decades, scientists have speculated how insulin interacts with cells, but the international group of scientists finally found a definitive answer: insulin binds to the cell to allow the cell to transform sugar into energy, and the insulin itself changes shape as a result of this connection. It sounds simple, but Case Western Reserve biochemistry professor and department chair Michael A. Weiss, MD, PhD, MBA says ‘These findings carry profound implications for diabetes patients’.
According to Weiss, who is also the Cowan-Blum Professor of Cancer Research at the School of Medicine and one of the leaders of the team, ‘This new information increases exponentially the chances that we can develop better treatments – in particular, oral medications instead of syringes, pens or pumps.’ Weiss is also responsible for developing a preliminary version of the insulin hormone that does not need to be refrigerated, which is a critical breakthrough for those with diabetes in the developing world.
However, Weiss says there has been a ‘logjam’ in scientists’ understanding of insulin since the late Dorothy Hodgkin and colleagues at the University of Oxford, first described insulin’s structure in 1969, and he and his team ‘hope that we’ve broken the logjam.’
The team, consisting of partners in Melbourne, Chicago, York and Prague, tested structural models using molecular-genetic methods to create the highly detailed, three-dimensional images which provided critical answers.
According to associate Professor Mike Lawrence, of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, ‘Both insulin and its receptor undergo rearrangement as they interact,’ said Lawrence, who co-led the study. ‘A piece of insulin folds out and key pieces within the receptor move to engage the insulin hormone. You might call it a ‘molecular handshake’.’
Weiss says that this can change the use of insulin injections for diabetics, as targeting small molecules ‘to the signalling clefts’ of the receptor may allow for alternatives to injections, as well as fewer doses per day.
Comments are closed.