[acb-diabetics] new molecule. . .

[Patricia LaFrance-Wolf]

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/lists/lt.php?id=cU4BCwVRX1hdBFYaUgBeAxlQAFcDC
w%3D%3D> news 

 
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/lists/lt.php?id=cU4BCwVRX1hdBFYaUgBeAxlQAFcDC
w%3D%3D> Biological Clock Molecule Could Become New Type 2 Treatment 

UC San Diego scientists have discovered a molecule involved in regulating
the biological clock that could open a new path for treating type 2
diabetes. The molecule, dubbed KL001, controls a key protein, cryptochrome,
that regulates the biological clock (circadian rhythm) in plants, animals,
and humans. In doing so, cryptochrome indirectly affects the liver's
production of glucose. KL001 can be manipulated to induce cryptochrome to
slow the liver's glucose production, thus creating a possible new
therapeutic approach to type 2 diabetes. 

The circadian rhythm controls the timing of certain metabolic processes. For
example, nightly hormonal signals tell the body to go into a fasting state
because it's getting ready to sleep. By day, when people are active and
eating, fasting signals are suppressed so that the body will produce more
glucose for energy. In the case of people with diabetes, whose glucose
levels go too high, the ability to "tell" the liver to ease off glucose
production could help them achieve better control. 

The path to finding KL001 started two years ago when a research team led by
Steve Kay, dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego,
discovered a biochemical link between diabetes and the circadian rhythm. The
team determined that cryptochrome, already known to regulate the biological
clocks of plants and animals, also regulates the liver's glucose production.
That insight led to speculation about ways that cryptochrome could be
controlled and the eventual discovery of the KL001 molecule. Read
<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/lists/lt.php?id=cU4BCwVRX1hdBFYaUgBeAxlQAFcDC
w%3D%3D>  more... 

 

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