Most People Are Susceptible To Type 2 Diabetes

CHANGSHA, China - April 22, 2021 - PRLog -- A recent study from scientists at Indiana University School of Medicine, the University of Michigan and Case Western Reserve University has determined that the sequence of insulin has become entrenched at the edge of impaired production, an intrinsic vulnerability unmasked by rare mutations in the insulin gene causing diabetes in childhood. The study exploits biophysical concepts and methods to relate protein chemistry to the emerging field of evolutionary medicine.

Insulin is produced by a series of highly specific processes that occur in specialized cells, called beta cells. A key step is the folding of a biosynthetic precursor, called proinsulin, to achieve the hormone's functional three-dimensional structure. Past studies from this and other groups have suggested that impaired biosynthesis could be the result of diverse mutations that hinder the foldability of proinsulin.

This group sought to determine if the evolution of insulin in vertebrates -- including humans -- has encountered a roadblock. Has a complex series of steps imposed constraints that have frozen the sequence of insulin at a precipice of non-foldability? And if so, has this left humankind vulnerable to Type 2 diabete (https://en.huatengsci.com/article/231.html)s as a pandemic disease of civilization?

According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the answers are yes and yes.

Weiss and team looked at a subtle mutation in human insulin in relation to the insulins of other animals, such as cows and porcupines. The mutant human insulin functions within the range of natural variation among animal insulins, and yet this mutation has been excluded by evolution.

The group discovered that even the slightest variation of the insulin-sequencing process not only impairs insulin folding (and eventual insulin secretion) but also induces cellular stress that leads to beta cell dysfunction and eventually permanent damage.

Weiss said that the study highlights the importance of folding efficiency as a critical but hidden factor in the evolution of insulin over the past 540 million years. Humans have evolved to be vulnerable to diverse mutations in the insulin gene and that this vulnerability underlies a rare monogenic form of diabetes and provides an evolutionary backdrop to the present obesity-related diabetes pandemic.

Huateng Pharma (https://en.huatengsci.com/) is known worldwide for a variety of pharmaceutical intermediates used in research and development. Liraglutide and semaglutide (https://en.huatengsci.com/article/127.html) are anti-diabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. We can provide intermediates of them for your research and make scale-up production with capacities varying from gram to kilograms and multi tons.