Taiwanese researchers have identified a gene that they say might help doctors treat diabetes.
A study by a research team at Academia Sinica’s Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center showed that the expression of protein disulfide isomerase family A member 4 (PDIA4) is linked to diabetes.
The research was published in this month’s issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine, an open-source, peer-reviewed scientific journal based in Europe.
Photo courtesy of Yang Wen-chin
When people — or mice, which also carry PDIA4 — are overnourished, expression of the protein-coding gene increases in the beta cells of the pancreas, the study said.
This triggers a process that leads to metabolic stress and eventual death of the pancreatic cells that secrete insulin, resulting in diabetes, it said.
Removing the gene from diabetic mice alleviates their condition in a number of ways, including lessening the destruction of pancreatic cells, lowering blood sugar levels and increasing insulin secretion, it said.
Eliminating the gene can sometimes fully reverse diabetes in mice, which might occur without intervention or in combination with a reduced diet, the study said.
In addition, the scientists created a PDIA4 inhibitor they call PS1 that suppresses the progression of diabetes in mice, it said.
These findings show that the PDIA4 gene could be the key in the search for a cure for diabetes, it said.
Lead researcher Yang Wen-chin (楊文欽), a research fellow at the center, on Thursday said that the gene has the potential to become the first-ever therapeutic treatment for diabetes, should it pass clinical trials.
Ministry of Health and Welfare data show that 9.8 percent of Taiwanese have diabetes, while the National Health Insurance pays NT$30 billion (US$1.08 billion) annually in medical expenses related to the condition.
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