Bypassing the insulin highway

An immune cell known as a neutrophil releases a protein that can suppress glucose production in the liver –without targeting insulin, researchers have found.

Neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, produce special immune proteins called defensins which seem to have a connection with glucose levels. During bacterial infection, defensin production can increase dramatically, a rise that frequently results in hypoglycemia. In addition, many patients with type II diabetes have decreased defensin levels.

To study this connection further, Wenhong Cao and colleagues tested the effects of human defensin HNP-1 on both isolated cells and rodent models. Treating liver cells with HNP-1 suppressed the expression of several glucose-producing genes and decreased cellular glucose levels, but did not activate or alter the expression of the insulin receptor at all. This inhibition extended to animals, as HNP-1 reduced blood glucose levels in both normal mice and diabetic rats.

These findings provide some more information linking the immune system and metabolism, and also offer a new avenue to target diabetics who do not respond well to traditional insulin-based treatments.

Media Contact

Nick Zagorski EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.asbmb.org

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors