Wayne State University has secured a $5.7 million NIH grant to investigate why some lean individuals develop insulin resistance while some obese individuals remain sensitive, aiming to uncover new biological insights and therapeutic targets for type 2 diabetes.
Wayne State University has received a $5.7 million grant from the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to investigate why insulin resistance can develop in lean people while some people with obesity remain insulin sensitive. The five-year project brings together researchers from pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry and the medical school in an effort to pin down the biology behind a pattern that has long complicated the understanding of type 2 diabetes.
The work is being led by Zhengping Yi, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Charlie Fehl, an associate professor of chemistry, with Berhane Seyoum and Seongho Kim from Wayne State University School of Medicine serving as co-investigators. According to Wayne State’s announcement, the team will study skeletal muscle from four groups of volunteers: lean people who are insulin sensitive, lean people who are insulin resistant, people with obesity who are insulin sensitive and people with obesity who are insulin resistant. The comparison is designed to separate the effects of body weight from the effects of insulin resistance itself.
The researchers plan to focus on two kinds of protein modification, phosphorylation and O-GlcNAc glycosylation, which can alter how cells communicate and respond to insulin. By examining those changes in human skeletal muscle, the team hopes to build a large database that could help explain the molecular pathways that distinguish insulin-sensitive tissue from insulin-resistant tissue. EurekAlert described the project as aiming to uncover biological mechanisms that may account for the unusual combination of leanness and insulin resistance, or obesity and insulin sensitivity.
Wayne State said the resource could support wider research into insulin resistance, obesity and type 2 diabetes, and could help identify potential therapeutic targets. The university noted that the team will also examine whether its findings may point towards repurposing kinase inhibitor drugs already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, as well as provide a rationale for studying inhibitors of O-GlcNAc transferase, known as OGT. However, the researchers emphasised that any treatment idea emerging from the project would still need clinical trials to establish safety and effectiveness in people.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
