Mitochondria are small structures inside our cells that make energy. This energy helps cells do their jobs. When mitochondria don’t work properly, it can lead to health problems—including type 2 diabetes.
People with type 2 diabetes either don’t make enough insulin or their bodies can’t use insulin properly. Insulin is the hormone that helps control blood sugar levels. Studies have shown that the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, called beta cells, have damaged mitochondria in people with diabetes.
These damaged mitochondria can’t produce enough energy, but until now, scientists didn’t fully understand why this was happening.
A new study from the University of Michigan, published in the journal Science, helps explain the problem. Researchers used mice to show that when mitochondria are damaged, they send a signal that changes the way beta cells grow and work. These cells stop making enough insulin and act like immature cells.
Emily M. Walker, Ph.D., the first author of the study, said they wanted to figure out which parts of mitochondria are most important.
The team damaged three key parts in mice: the mitochondria’s DNA, the process for clearing out damaged mitochondria, and the system that keeps mitochondria healthy. In all three cases, the same stress signal was activated. This caused the beta cells to stop functioning correctly.
Walker explained that the mitochondria actually send messages to the cell’s nucleus—the control center—and tell it to stop the normal development of the beta cells. The team also tested their findings in human pancreatic cells and saw the same results.
Since type 2 diabetes affects many parts of the body—not just the pancreas—the team wanted to see if other cells also respond this way. They repeated the experiment in liver cells and fat-storing cells. Again, they saw the same stress response, and the cells stopped working properly.
Scott A. Soleimanpour, M.D., who led the study, said this could explain a lot about how diabetes affects the whole body. “Diabetes is a disease that involves many systems. You gain weight, your liver makes too much sugar, and your muscles don’t work right. Now we see that mitochondrial damage may be the root cause.”
The good news is that even though the cells were not working properly, they didn’t die. That means it might be possible to fix them. The researchers used a drug called ISRIB to block the stress signal. After giving it to mice for four weeks, the beta cells began to work again and could control blood sugar levels.
This discovery gives hope for treating or even curing type 2 diabetes. The researchers now want to test their results in cells from people with diabetes. If successful, their work could lead to new treatments that fix the real cause of the disease—not just the symptoms.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies that MIND diet may reduce risk of vision loss disease, and Vitamin D could benefit people with diabetic neuropathic pain.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies that Vitamin E could help reduce blood sugar and insulin resistance in diabetes, and results showing eating eggs in a healthy diet may reduce risks of diabetes, high blood pressure.
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