Mitochondria, 3D rendering (closeup)
Mitochondrial dysfunctions disturb insulin production in diabetes – but, according to a new study, reversing mitochondrial damage can help cure diabetes.
Mitochondria are essential to generate the energy that feeds cells and allows them to work. However, determined mitochondrial defects They are associated with the development of diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
Patients with this disease cannot produce sufficient insulin or cannot effectively use insulin that the pancreas produce to maintain normal blood sugar levels.
Several studies have shown that the pancreatic β cells Diabetic patient insulin producers have abnormal mitochondria and cannot generate sufficient energy. However, these studies did not explain why cells behave this way.
In a new one, published this month in the magazine Sciencea team of scientists at the University of Michigan showed that the dysfunctional mitochondria trigger an answer that affects maturation and function The Células β.
“We wanted to determine which roads are important to maintain an appropriate mitochondrial function,” explains Emily M. Walkerresearcher at Umich and first author of the study, quoted by.
For this, the team damaged three essential components For mitochondrial function: DNA, a route used to eliminate damaged mitochondria and a pathway that maintains a healthy set of mitochondria in the cell.
“In the three cases, it was activated exactly the same response to stresswhich caused β cells to become immature, cease to produce sufficient insulin and essentially cease to be β cells, ”said Walker.
“Our results show that mitochondria can send signals for the core and Change the destination of the cell“Note to researcher.
The study results led the team to widen their research to other cells that are affected during diabetes.
“Diabetes is a multisystem disease: Weight is gaining, the liver produces too much sugar and the muscles are affected. That’s why we wanted to analyze other tissues too, ”he said Scott A. SoleimanpourDirector of Michigan Diabetes Research Center and main author of the study.
The team repeated your experiences with mice in liver cells and fat storage cells and found that The same response to stress It was activated. Both cell types were unable to mature and function properly.
“Although we have not tested all possible cell types, we believe that our results can be applicable to all different tissues which are affected by diabetes, ”said Soleimanpour.
Regardless of the cell type, researchers found that damage to mitochondria do not cause cell death.
This observation raised the possibility that, if they could reverse the damagecells would work normally.
The investigators then used Smearmedicine that blocks the response to stress, to test this hypothesis, and found that after 4 weeks the β cells recovered their ability to control glucose levels in the mice.
“Losing β cells is the most direct form for type 2 diabetes. Through our studywe now have an explanation For what may be happening and how we can intervene and correct the root cause, ”concludes Soleimanpour.
