insulin tagged posts

Oleuropein promotes glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in β-cells. The effect is dose-dependent and stimulates the ERK/MAPK signaling pathway. We further demonstrated that oleuropein inhibits the cytotoxicity induced by amylin amyloids, a hallmark feature of type 2 diabetes.

A Virginia Tech team discovered that oleuropein from olive leaves helps the body secrete more insulin. The same compound also detoxifies another signaling molecule called amylin that over-produces and forms harmful aggregates in type 2 diabetes. In these two distinct ways, oleuropein helps prevent the onset of disease.

“Our work provides new mechanistic insights into the long-standing question of why olive products can be anti-diabetic,” said Bin Xu, assistant professor of biochemistry in the College of Agric...

Highlights •The ER stress sensor IRE-1 has a distinct function in cytoplasmic homeostasis •Local redox signals block IRE-1 ER signaling by sulfenylating a kinase cysteine •This functional switch initiates the p38/SKN-1(Nrf2) antioxidant response at IRE-1 •The IRE-1 paradigm implies broad and versatile functions for signaling at cysteines

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) sometimes can aid in maintaining health – findings now boosted by a surprising discovery from the researchers. In other circumstances, high levels of reactive forms of oxygen can damage proteins and contribute to diabetic complications and many other diseases.

Led by Keith Blackwell, M.D., Ph.D...

rs10830963 is an eQTL in human islets conferring increased MTNR1B mRNA expression • Melatonin inhibits cAMP rises in mouse islets and clonal insulin-secreting cells • Melatonin blocks insulin release in mouse islets and clonal insulin-secreting cells • Melatonin’s inhibition of insulin release is stronger in risk allele carriers

A sleeping pancreas releases less insulin, but how much insulin drops each night may differ from person to person. Up to 30% of the population may be predisposed to have a pancreas that’s more sensitive to the insulin-inhibiting effects of melatonin, a circadian rhythm hormone. People with this increased sensitivity carry a slightly altered melatonin receptor gene that is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

Large-scale studies have identified over 100 ...

Image of a rodent brain cell, with insulin receptors (seen as many green dots) that when activated spur release of dopamine (In background in pink is neuron nucleus.) Credit: Courtesy of Nature Communications

Insulin, essential for controlling blood sugar levels and feeling of being full after eating, plays a much stronger role than previously known in regulating release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers, new studies by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center show.

“We found that when there’s more insulin in the brain, there will be more dopamine released, not less,” says study senior investigator and NYU Langone neuroscientist Margaret Rice, PhD...