A group of stem cell researchers from the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have found that type 2 diabetes is associated with a signalling pathway that is involved in normal pancreatic development.
Revealing their findings online in Experimental Diabetes Research, the researchers said that they could provide a potential new target for therapy.
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A comprehensive article on diabetes - both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, including : causes, signs, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, facts and a glossary on diabetes.
A comprehensive article on diabetes - both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, including : causes, signs, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, facts and a glossary on diabetes.
"It is now clear that progenitor cells, with the capacity to become insulin producing cells, reside in the adult pancreas," said Dr. Pamela Itkin-Ansari, assistant adjunct professor at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Burnham.
"The key to harnessing those cells to treat diabetes is to understand the signaling pathways that are active in the pancreas under both normal and disease conditions. In the course of that research we found that Wnt signaling activity, which plays a critical role in the development of the pancreas, re-emerges in type 2 diabetes," the researcher added.
The researchers describe the Wnt signaling pathway as a series of protein interactions that control several genes that play a role in normal development, as well as cancer, in many tissues.
In the current study, they compared the expression of different proteins in the Wnt pathway in the pancreas from adults with type 2 diabetes and those from healthy individuals.
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Diabetes or diabetes mellitus, is an endocrine and metabolic disorder characterized by high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time.
Diabetes or diabetes mellitus, is an endocrine and metabolic disorder characterized by high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time.
The researchers also found that beta cells from people with type 2 diabetes had increased levels of the protein.
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Given that Wnt signalling was apparent in obese mice well before they developed symptoms, the researchers believe that it may be an important factor leading to Type 2 diabetes.
Source-ANI
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