Diabetes: New Drug Target That Stimulates Beta Cell Growth Identified
Date: 12.9.2011
One of the holy grails in diabetes research is to discover molecules that stimulate beta cell growth and to find drugs that target these molecules. The work appears in the September 7 issue of Cell Metabolism.
After screening possible molecules that could snip Tmem27, Dr. Stoffel and his team found the culprit: Bace2, an enzyme protein that, like Tmem27, also resides on the outer surface (known as the plasma membrane) of the beta cell. The researchers confirmed their theory by finding that mice that lacked Bace2 had larger islets and the beta cells in the islets increased in number, a process known as proliferation or regeneration. They also found that these mice were able to clear glucose from the blood more efficiently than control mice with Bace2.
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