Patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) often suffer from type 2 diabetes. This phenomenon has since long remained mechanistically enigmatic. Now, researchers have identified a molecular mechanism linking these two diseases. The study is published in the scientific journal PNAS.
The researchers found that immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in the blood of ALS patients target the calcium channel in the cell membrane of the insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas.
"This leads to an unphysiological calcium (Ca2+) influx and consequent beta cell death," says the first author of the study.
Altered humoral immunity, i.e. the presence of autoantibodies targeting the body's own cells, is a known phenomenon in type 1 diabetes. The new study highlights the presence of autoantibodies as a pathogenic mechanism in a subgroup of patients with type 2 diabetes.
"We now demonstrate that IgG from ALS patients with type 2 diabetes behave like cytotoxic autoantibodies, suggesting that altered humoral immunity can serve as a critical pathogenic mechanism in the development of diabetes," says the senior author of the study. "This may lay the foundation for a new immunotherapy strategy for patients suffering from both ALS and diabetes."
The researchers believe that the presence of autoantibodies may be a generalised phenomenon for other neurodegenerative diseases as well. Similar to ALS patients, a proportion of patients with disorders like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis also suffer from type 2 diabetes.
"Interestingly, pancreatic beta cells and neurons are equipped with similar types of calcium channels and share a series of physiological and pathological mechanisms for their function/dysfunction and survival/death, such as Ca2+-dependent exocytosis and Ca2+-triggered cell death," says the senior author of the study. "The extent to which the pathogenic mechanism that we discovered in patients with both ALS and type 2 diabetes may be generalised to other neurodegenerative diseases associated with diabetes will be the focus for future studies."
https://news.ki.se/new-clues-to-the-link-between-als-and-type-2-diabetes
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/12/10/1911956116
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Figgs-from-patients-with&filter=22
Auto-antibodies may be responsible type 2 diabetes in ALS patients
- 4,108 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
TB blood test which could d…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Propionate supplementation…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Role of human Kallistatin i…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Mar
Addressing both flu and COV…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Mar
How the brain senses body p…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Mar
Other Top Stories
Identical brain neurons have different influence on food intake
Read more
The appetite controlling dopaminergic brain circuit
Read more
Expression of 'fat' genes correlate with metabolic, behavioral chan…
Read more
Delivering insulin-producing cells to treat type 1 diabetes with a…
Read more
Healthy fat impacted by change in diet and circadian clock
Read more
Protocols
All-optical presynaptic pla…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
Epigenomic tomography for p…
By newseditor
Posted 20 Mar
A mouse DRG genetic toolkit…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
An optogenetic method for t…
By newseditor
Posted 13 Mar
Profiling native pulmonary…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Mar
Publications
OSBP-mediated PI(4)P-choles…
By newseditor
Posted 28 Mar
Integrated plasma proteomic…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
APP antisense oligonucleoti…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Targeting Erbin-mitochondri…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Regulation of Zbp1 by miR-9…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar