Adjuvant for insulin
The new compound lowered the blood sugar levels of mice
Tatiana Matveeva, "Scientific Russia"
A study in mice shows that a new class of compounds developed by scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (USA) can help in the treatment of diabetes. The compound improves insulin secretion and lowers blood sugar levels, the press service of the university reports. The results of the work are published in the journal Nature Communications (Gunasekar et al., Small molecule SWELL1 complex induction improves glycemic control and nonalcoolic fatty liver disease in murine Type 2 diabetes).
Testing one of the compounds, SN-401, the researchers found that it improves the ability of the pancreas to produce insulin and increases the ability of other tissues to use the hormone to more effectively remove sugar from the blood. Scientists have improved it by creating a class of related compounds that interact with the SWELL1 protein (also LRRC8a).
This protein may play a central role in the development of diabetes. It acts as a signaling molecule: "informs" how well the cells use insulin. The new compound developed by scientists binds to SWELL1 in such a way that it stabilizes the protein complex to enhance expression and signal transmission in many tissues, including adipose tissue, skeletal muscle tissue, liver, internal walls of blood vessels and pancreatic islet cells. This restores both insulin sensitivity in different types of tissues and insulin secretion in the pancreas, the authors note.
Scientists tested the work of SN-401 on two groups of mice: one group of rodents developed diabetes due to a genetic predisposition, the other - due to a high–fat diet. In addition to the fact that SN-401 helped to improve the sensitivity of cells to insulin and the release of hormone, it also normalized blood sugar levels and reduced the amount of accumulated fat in the liver.
The compound does not have much effect on blood sugar levels in healthy mice – this is an important point for potential therapy. Unlike modern diabetes medications, SN-401 does not reduce blood sugar in situations where it is not necessary, the authors of the development note.
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