Washington, July 16: Scientists have discovered a biochemical that shows a completely new and promising direction for the development of drugs to treat type-2 diabetes.
Scientists had long suspected that diabetes and obesity could be linked to problems in the biological clock. Lab mice with altered biological clocks, for example, often become obese and develop diabetes.
Two years ago, a team headed by Steve Kay, dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California San Diego, discovered the first biochemical link between the biological clock and diabetes, the journal Science reported.
It found that a key protein, cryptochrome, that regulates the biological clocks of plants, insects and mammals also regulates glucose production in the liver and that altering the levels of this protein could improve the health of diabetic mice, according to a university statement.
Now Kay and his team have discovered a small molecule -- one that can be easily developed into a drug -- that controls the intricate molecular cogs or timekeeping mechanisms of cryptochrome in such a manner that it can repress the production of glucose by the liver.
Like mice and other animals, humans have evolved biochemical mechanisms to keep a steady supply of glucose flowing to the brain at night, when we're not eating or otherwise active. IANS

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