Keeping blood sugar under control
26 Jan 2011 by Evoluted New Media
A new mechanism for controlling blood sugar levels following a meal has been discovered by scientists in Leicester, a finding which may have important implications for diabetes.
A new mechanism for controlling blood sugar levels following a meal has been discovered by scientists in Leicester, a finding which may have important implications for diabetes.
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Hematoxylin- and eosin-stained pancreatic slice illustrating an islet of Langerhans adjacent to a capillary Credit University of Leicester |
The study – led by Professor Andrew Tobin from the University of Leicester – looked at the mechanisms the body uses to control the level of sugar in the blood following a meal. Researchers discovered a protein called the M3-muscarinic receptor – often found in the smooth muscles, endocrine and exocrine glands and the lungs. In general it causes smooth muscle contractions and glandular secretions.
“We found that in order to maintain the correct levels of sugar, a protein present in the cells that release insulin in the pancreas has to be active,” said Tobin, a professor of cell biology, “This protein, called the M3-muscarinic receptor, is not only active but also needs to undergo a specific change. This change triggers insulin release and the control of blood sugar levels.”
“The protein undergoes protein phosphorylation – the addition of a phosphate group,” Tobin told Laboratory News, “And so the receptor we’re interested in – the M3-muscarine receptor – needs to undergo that change to be able to control insulin release and therefore glucose in the blood.”
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Schematic illustrating the mechanisms involved in M3-muscarinic receptor-mediated facilitation of insulin release. Source: University of Leicester |
Tobin – a Wellcome Trust senior research fellow – said this new mechanism may be one of those disrupted during the diabetes. Without the change in the M3-muscarinic receptor protein sugar levels go up in the same way that they do in the disease, so Tobin and his team are investigating if the mechanism of controlling sugar levels is one of those disrupted in diabetes.
“It will take a few years before we can link this mechanism to diabetes,” Tobin told Laboratory News, “But we’re testing a mouse model which is diabetic to see if it reflects human diabetes and if this mechanism causes diabetes in them.”
