DUKE SCIENTISTS HELP TO IDENTIFY KEY PROTEIN REGULATING DIABETES

DURHAM—August 18, 2011 -- With obesity and diabetes epidemic in the developed world, a better understanding of how metabolism is regulated is crucial. One of the key metabolic pathways regulating metabolism is the oxidation of fat. Scientists at Duke University Medical Center and the Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center, in collaboration with the Gladstone Institute and the University of California – San Francisco, helped to discover a new mechanism that governs this pathway and in the process identified a novel potential therapeutic target for controlling diabetes and obesity. The target is a protein from the mitochondria, or the “power plants” of every cell that are responsible for processing oxygen and converting substances from the foods we eat into energy for essential cell functions.

Tags: SIRT3, energy, metabolism, acetylation, high-fat diet