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Diabetes currently affects 24 million individuals in the United States alone. The incidence of adult onset or Type II diabetes has increased 15 percent over the last two years, targeting nearly a quarter of individuals over 60. Worldwide, the incidence of diabetes is predicted to double by 2030, accounting for nearly 370 million people. By any measure, this disease has reached epidemic proportions.
Key to the development of either Type 1 or Type II diabetes is the inability of the pancreas to produce enough insulin, either because the number of insulin producing islet cells is too low, or because the target cells become deaf to insulin's message. Salk scientists are working on understanding the molecular and genetic basis of the disease to advance the development of possible future treatments and perhaps a cure.
Recent Discoveries
- Researchers have identified a possible link between diabetes and cancer by studying AMPK, a key cellular enzyme involved in conserving energy when glucose levels run low, and its master regulator LKB1, a tumor-suppressing protein. It turns out that the widely used Type II diabetes drug Metformin activates AMPK, suggesting that the LKB1/AMPK pathway is a molecular link between the two diseases. This may explain the increased cancer risk seen in Type II diabetic patients.
- Scientists have discovered how two key proteins, CRTC2 and FOXO1, work in concert to fire up the body's mechanism to rapidly produce and maintain the necessary levels of glucose for the brain during times of fasting. Their findings may pave the way for novel therapies for those who suffer from metabolic diseases in which such regulation can spiral out of control.
- Using a compound that artificially turned on PPAR delta, a genetic switch that controls the ability for cells to burn fat, scientists tricked muscles in mice into thinking they had been exercised, while also dramatically boosted endurance by more than 70 percent when combined with exercise. This amazing breakthrough may one day provide much-needed relief to those who cannot physically exercise as a result of trauma or disease.
- Additional studies have established that the PPAR delta gene also exerts powerful anti-inflammatory effects in arteries suppressing the development of atherosclerosis, while a collaborative effort among scientists at Salk has led to the remarkable discovery that endurance can also be stimulated through the activation of a central switch called AMPK, which then turns on PPAR delta. These findings indicate that single agents are able to reprogram adult muscle towards endurance fibers in a manner previously unimagined.
- Researchers have identified a key regulator present in islet cells – the insulin-producing cells deficient in patients with Type I diabetes. The regulator can increase both insulin production and islet cell proliferation, making it a promising target for the development of drugs treating Type I diabetes.
- Scientists discovered a genetic "fasting switch," called CRTC2, that flips on glucose production in the liver – the same switch that remains permanently on in patients with Type II diabetes. A collaborative study among Salk researchers revealed that a common diabetes drug (Metformin) works to inactivate CRTC2 and shut down glucose production. Having identified a molecular target for this drug, new, more active drugs will be easier to develop.