NG53 Gene
Korean researchers discovered a new protein controlling the transmission of an insulin signal. It is expected that the research outcome will be able to be utilized in the development of type 2 diabetes medication.
The Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning announced on August 26 that Korea University life science professor Ko Young-kyu and his research team discovered MG53. It is a novel protein for decomposing the protein IRS-1 which is essential for insulin signal transmission.
The team found out that IRS-1 was not decomposed in the skeletal muscles of an experimental rat from which the MG53 gene was removed. The amount of IRS-1 increased in the rat. The larger the amount of the protein, the more the insulin signal was amplified. This means that insulin resistance can be treated by inhibiting the expression of MG53 protein.
The study was recently published in Nature Communications, an “online-only, multidiciplinary journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research in all areas of the biological, phyical, and chemical sciences.” You can find the abstract of the article by following this link, with an option to buy the full text for US$32.