Scientists at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals have made an important discovery that could change how diabetes is treated. Their research, published in the journal Cell on December 5th, uncovers a key enzyme that may play a major role in the disease.
Diabetes is a long-term condition that affects how the body manages blood sugar. Normally, the hormone insulin helps control sugar levels, but in diabetes, the body either doesn’t make enough insulin or doesn’t use it properly. This can lead to serious health problems like heart disease, vision loss, and kidney damage.
The study focuses on nitric oxide, a natural compound that helps widen blood vessels, fight infections, and even support memory. Scientists have known for a long time that nitric oxide is important, but they weren’t sure exactly how it works in the body.
The researchers identified a key enzyme called SCAN (SNO-CoA-assisted nitrosylase) that attaches nitric oxide to proteins. One of these proteins is the insulin receptor, which helps insulin do its job in the body.
Their findings showed that this enzyme is necessary for insulin to work normally. However, they also found that people with diabetes and diabetic mice had too much SCAN activity. Interestingly, when they removed this enzyme from mice, the animals did not develop diabetes. This suggests that too much nitric oxide binding to proteins may contribute to diabetes.
Jonathan Stamler, the lead researcher, explained, “We show that blocking this enzyme protects from diabetes. But this could also be important for other diseases where nitric oxide plays a role.”
The next step in this research is to develop medications that target the SCAN enzyme. If successful, these treatments could help people with diabetes by improving how their bodies respond to insulin.
Too much nitric oxide binding to proteins has also been linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart failure. Scientists now believe that focusing on enzymes like SCAN could lead to new treatments for many different conditions.
For diabetes, one of the biggest challenges has been understanding why insulin stops working properly in the body. While researchers knew nitric oxide was involved, they didn’t know how to control it because it reacts so quickly in the body. This new discovery changes that by identifying a specific enzyme that could be blocked or adjusted to improve insulin function.
Jonathan Stamler emphasized the importance of the study, saying, “This paper shows that enzymes control nitric oxide’s effects. We found an enzyme that puts nitric oxide on the insulin receptor to regulate insulin. Too much activity causes diabetes. But there are likely many similar enzymes affecting different diseases.”
This discovery could open the door to better treatments for diabetes and possibly many other health conditions. By targeting SCAN, scientists hope to develop new drugs that restore normal insulin function and improve overall health.
If you care about blood sugar, please read studies about why blood sugar is high in the morning, and how to cook sweet potatoes without increasing blood sugar.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about 9 unhealthy habits that damage your brain, and results showing this stuff in cannabis may protect aging brain, treat Alzheimer’s.
The full research findings can be found in Cell.
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