Scientists at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, along with an international team of researchers, are shedding new light on the causes of Type 2 diabetes. The new research, published in the journal Nature Communications, offers a potential strategy for developing new therapies that could restore dysfunctional pancreatic beta-cells or, perhaps, even prevent Type 2 diabetes from developing.
The new study shows that the beta-cells of Type 2 diabetes patients are deficient in a cell trafficking protein called “phosphatidylinositol transfer protein alpha” (or PITPNA), which can promote the formation of “little packages,” or intracellular granules containing insulin. These structures facilitate processing and maturation of insulin “cargo.” By restoring PITPNA in the Type 2 deficient beta-cells, production of insulin granule is restored and this reverses many of the deficiencies associated with beta-cell failure and Type 2 diabetes.
Researchers say it’s important to understand how specific genes regulate pancreatic beta-cell function, including those that mediate insulin granule production and maturation like PITPNA to provide therapeutic options for people.
