Newly discovered drug candidate increased insulin secretion in type 2
diabetes

Date:
March 29, 2022
Source:
Lund University
Summary:
Researchers have discovered increased levels of of a microRNA
in type 2 diabetes, which has a negative effect on insulin
secretion. Their experiments on human insulin producing cells in
the pancreas also demonstrates that it is possible to increase
the insulin secretion by reducing the levels of this microRNA. An
important goal of the research is to develop new treatments for
people with the disease.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers at Lund University have discovered increased levels of of
a microRNA in type 2 diabetes, which has a negative effect on insulin secretion.

Their experiments on human insulin producing cells in the pancreas also demonstrates that it is possible to increase the insulin secretion by
reducing the levels of this microRNA. An important goal of the research
is to develop new treatments for people with the disease.


==========================================================================
In type 2 diabetes, the ability of the pancreas to produce and release
insulin is impaired. Previous studies have demonstrated that microRNAs
are involved in this deterioration process. MicroRNAs are non-coding
RNAs that regulate the number of genes and proteins in a cell. Reducing
the amount of microRNA could be a possible treatment for patient with
type 2 diabetes.

Research has shown that a certain microRNA, called miR-200c, seems to
affect the insulin secretion in diabetic mice. Until now, there has
been a lack of knowledge about the role of miR-200c when it comes to
the insulin secretion in humans.

"Our study demonstrates that the levels of miR-200c differs between
people with and without the disease. Few studies within this area have
been conducted with a similar amount of human material as in this study,"
says Lena Eliasson, a diabetes researcher at Lund University Diabetes
Centre (LUDC) and corresponding author for the study, published in the scientific journal Diabetes.

Increased insulin secretion Their measurements of miR-200c in islets
of Langerhans from 34 deceased donors with and without type 2 diabetes demonstrated increased levels of miR-200c in people with the disease. The researchers also carried out experiments in islets of Langerhans from
deceased donors with type 2 diabetes in order to determine whether it
is possible to increase the insulin secretion by reducing the levels of miR-200c in the cells. The experiments resulted in an increased insulin secretion in the islets of Langerhans of the three donors.



==========================================================================
"The increase was approximately threefold in all the donors. We would have liked to carry out this experiment in more donors, but it is difficult
to come across newly donated material. We are of course very grateful
to the donors who have contributed to the study in different ways. It
is important to understand what happens to the insulin secretion and
how it is regulated in human beings to develop new treatments," says
Jones Ofori, one of the main authors of the study and a researcher in
diabetes and epigenetics at LUDC.

Improved treatments The researchers behind the study are planning to
confirm their results in diabetic rats to better understand what happens
with the insulin secretion when they reduce the levels of miR-200c. An important research objective is to develop new treatments of type 2
diabetes. Previous research at Lund University Diabetes Centre has
shown that diabetes can be divided into different subgroups based on
disease progression, and that there are some groups of patients who are experiencing more problems with insulin secretion than others.

"Current treatment options of type 2 diabetes are not optimal
for all. Several studies have shown that there is a need for more individualised treatments of type 2 diabetes. It may be interesting for
us to target a treatment towards groups who are having severe impairment
in insulin secretion. In the long-term perspective, we hope that our
research will lead to treatments that may contribute to better control
of blood sugar levels," says Lena Eliasson.

The research group is currently carrying out a mapping of microRNAs that
may be involved in the secretion of insulin in type 2 diabetes. This
knowledge is of importance in the development of precise treatments.



==========================================================================
"In our mapping of microRNAs, we can see that miR-200c is strong candidate
for targeted treatments, that also appears in other studies. A challenge
that is lying ahead of us is to develop an insulin treatment that will
only affect the islets of Langerhans and no other tissues," says Lena
Eliasson, professor in experimental diabetes research at Lund University.

MikroRNA and islets of Langerhans MicroRNA are small, non-coding RNA
molecules that regulate the production of proteins. A single microRNA
can regulate many proteins in a cell or signaling pathway. MicroRNA are involved in the development of type 2 diabetes and the ability of the
pancreas to secrete insulin.

The islets of Langerhans contain mainly beta cells that produce insulin
and alpha cells that produce glucagon. These hormones regulate the blood
sugar and metabolism. The islets of Langerhans are difficult to study
because of their inaccessible placement.

Human tissue lab The study has been carried out on islets of Langerhans
in the pancreas, donated to the Human tissue lab (HTL), an important
biobank for diabetes research which has been established as a part of
the strategic research area Excellence of diabetes research in Sweden (EXODIAB). HTL collects insulin producing cells, as well as liver,
muscle and fat tissues in humans. The biobank stores blood samples,
urine and stool samples and information about individuals and their
disease history. HTL has been established in collaboration between Lund University and Uppsala University, the two universities that are a part
of the research collaboration EXODIAB.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Lund_University. Original written
by Petra Olsson. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jones K. Ofori, Alexandros Karagiannopoulos, Mototsugu Nagao, Efraim
Westholm, Shaima Ramadan, Anna Wendt, Jonathan L.S. Esguerra,
Lena Eliasson. Human Islet MicroRNA-200c Is Elevated in Type
2 Diabetes and Targets the Transcription Factor ETV5 to Reduce
Insulin Secretion.

Diabetes, 2022; 71 (2): 275 DOI: 10.2337/db21-0077 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220329114740.htm

--- up 4 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)