New York, January 5: If a single gene is not functioning properly, insulin is not released into the bloodstream to regulate blood sugar levels - leading to type 2 diabetes, claims a scientist of Indian origin. A research team led by Bellur S. Prabhakar, professor and head of microbiology and immunology at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, found that dysfunction in a single gene called MADD in mice causes fasting hyperglycemia - one of the major symptoms of type 2 diabetes. To study the role of MADD in diabetes, Prabhakar and his team developed a mouse model in which the MADD gene was deleted from the insulin-producing beta cells. All such mice had elevated blood glucose levels, which the researchers found was due to insufficient release of insulin. Prabhakar now hopes to investigate the effect of a drug that allows for the secretion of insulin in MADD-deficient beta cells. “If this drug works to reverse the deficits associated with a defective MADD gene in the beta cells of our model mice, it may have potential for treating people with this mutation who have an insulin-secretion defect and/or type 2 diabetes,” he said.
