New research from UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) identifies two genes that may play a role in insulin resistance, opening a new avenue for researchers searching for treatments for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
In findings published this week in the Journal of Biological Chemistry , the UAB team found that two genes, NR4A3 and NR4A1, seem to boost insulin sensitivity in muscle tissue.
Insulin lowers blood glucose, or sugar, by moving it from the bloodstream into skeletal muscle, where it is metabolized for energy or stored for later use. Type 2 diabetes results from either a shortage of insulin or from de-sensitized muscle that does not respond well to insulin, allowing elevated glucose levels to remain in the blood stream. This latter defect is called insulin resistance.
“Our findings show that these two proteins help sensitize muscle to insulin, promoting glucose uptake and thus keeping glucose levels within healthy limits,” said W. Timothy Garvey, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Nutrition Sciences at UAB and the lead investigator of the study. “This gives science a new target for diabetes research by suggesting new pathways for drug development that will help boost the presence or activity of NR4A3 and NR4A1.”
Garvey and colleague Yuchang Fu, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutrition sciences, also found that both genes were under-expressed in animal models with diabetes, leading to increased insulin resistance.