Type 2 diabetes? And what do you have with diacylglycerol kinase?

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden), together with researchers from Finland, China, Japan and the USA, have identified new cellular mechanisms leading to the development of insulin resistance in people with diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that develops as a result of a decrease in the ability of tissues to adequately respond to the action of insulin – the so–called insulin resistance. The increasing blood glucose level exacerbates insulin resistance, which, in turn, increases the risk of developing many serious complications of diabetes.

The authors identified a gene whose protein product – the enzyme diacylglycerol kinase-delta – is necessary to maintain a sufficient level of sensitivity of cells to insulin. They also found that the expression of this gene is reduced in the muscle tissue of people with high blood glucose and type 2 diabetes, and the absence of diacylglycerol kinase-delta reduces the sensitivity of muscles to insulin, disrupts their ability to break down fats and increases the risk of obesity.

According to the head of the work, Professor Juleen Zierath, an increase in blood glucose suppresses the expression of the gene encoding diacylglycerol kinase-delta, but its activity can be restored with the help of pharmacological agents or physical exercises.

Article by Alexander V. Chibalin et al. Downregulation of Diacylglycerol Kinase Delta Contributes to Hyperglycemia-Induced Insulin Resistance is published in the latest issue of the journal Cell.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily

12.02.2008