HYDERABAD: A team of scientists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB)here have isolated a protein, secretagogin (SCGN) which plays an important role in increasing insulin action in obesity-induced diabetes. This might become a breakthrough in managing diabetes which is affecting millions of people every year. Their number in India alone is 60 million.
Dr Yogendra Sharma and his colleagues, Anand Sharma, Radhika Khandelwal and Amrutha Chidananda have shown that SCGN binds to insulin, and protects it from various stresses and increases its stability and adds to its action.
Various kinds of cellular stresses can result in loss of structure and function of insulin, ultimately leading to diabetes. At present, the processes regulating insulin synthesis, maturation, secretion and signalling in diabetes are not completely understood.
‘SCGN has therapeutic potential’
Scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have shown that injection of SCGN (found at lower levels in diabetic patients) in obese diabetic mice cleared excess insulin from circulation, and reduced fat mass. SCGN treated animals also had lower levels of harmful LDL-cholesterol and lower lipid accumulation in liver cells. These findings, published in the latest issue of the journal Science, established SCGN as a functional insulin-binding protein with therapeutic potential against diabetes.
“While studying calcium-binding properties of SCGN, CCMB scientists have discovered a novel function of this protein in diabetes biology, yet another example of how quality basic science can lead to valuable applications” says Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director, CCMB.