Overweight increases the risk of an imbalance in sugar metabolism and even of diabetes. A research group has now shown the opposite is true as well: deficits in the body’s insulin production contribute to overweight.
Poor nutrition, too little movement and too many pounds on the scale – lifestyle influences the risk of metabolic diseases like diabetes. But the relationship works the other way round as well, as a research group reports. If insulin production is compromised, as is the case in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, this can contribute to overweight. The researchers report their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
The research team focused on protease PC1/3, a key enzyme in the body that transforms various inactive hormone precursors into the final, active forms. If this enzyme isn’t functioning properly in a person, the result can be severe endocrine disorders. The consequences include a feeling of uncontrollable hunger and severe overweight.
“Until now, it was assumed that this dysregulation is caused by a lack of activation of satiety hormones,” explains the study's leader. “But when we turned off PC1/3 in the brains of mice, the animals’ body weight did not change significantly.” The researchers concluded from this that something other than a brain malfunction must be responsible.
In their next step, they tested whether overweight could be caused by incorrect activation of other hormones. PC1/3 activates insulin, among other things. Insulin plays a key role in the regulation of blood sugar and fat metabolism. “Investigating the role of insulin production as a cause of overweight was obvious,” says the lead. The researchers shut off PC1/3 specifically in the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas in mice. The animals consumed significantly more calories and soon became overweight and diabetic.
“These results are also interesting because PC1/3 is reduced in the pancreas of patients with prediabetes,” says the senior author of the study. This indicates that incorrect insulin activation could be not only a consequence, but also a cause of overweight.
But PC1/3 is also important in the weight regulation of healthy individuals, the author emphasizes. The researchers were able to show that the gene expression of PC1/3 in the pancreas is negatively correlated with body weight in the general population – meaning that sufficient PC1/3 promotes a healthy body weight.
The finding that a defect in the insulin-producing beta cells is a trigger of overweight opens up new therapeutic possibilities. For example, it is conceivable that medications could be used to reduce the production of immature insulin precursors, creating a new tool in the fight against overweight and diabetes.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32509-4
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fprohormone-convertase-1&filter=22
Insufficient insulin processing leads to overweight
- 1,322 views
- Added
Latest News
Protein that helps COVID-19…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jul
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SM…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jul
Link between bowel movement…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jul
Inhibition of IL-11 signall…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Jul
Brain changes linked to obe…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Jul
Other Top Stories
Targeting fat-tissue hormone may lead to type 2 diabetes treatment
Read more
Liver signals to brain to control sugar intake
Read more
Protein Phosphorylation: A Major Switch Mechanism for Metabolic Reg…
Read more
The Genetics of Pediatric Obesity
Read more
The miRNA Interactome in Metabolic Homeostasis
Read more
Protocols
A systems biology approach…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Jul
quantms: a cloud-based pipe…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Jul
Emerging tools and best pra…
By newseditor
Posted 19 Jul
Directly selecting cell-typ…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Jul
PUFFFIN: an ultra-bright, c…
By newseditor
Posted 16 Jul
Publications
Hepatocyte-intrinsic SMN de…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jul
Aberrant bowel movement fre…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jul
A pseudoautosomal glycosyla…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jul
Microglia protect against a…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jul
Rigor and reproducibility i…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jul
Presentations
Myelin plasticity in the ve…
By newseditor
Posted 10 Jun
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
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