A group of researchers from the Ohio State University developed, in a recent study, a compound consisting of insulin bound to a string of amino acids that includes an antioxidant group. A previous study in mice, published in the journal Biomaterials suggested that the anti-diabetes properties of this nanomaterial included improving glucose consumption and availability as a fuel for the brain.
The results of the Research have been published in the scientific journal Pharmaceutics.
Insulin-related nanomaterial: this is how it works
Binding insulin to a nanomaterial could be beneficial in the management of diabetesthanks to better control of blood sugar and its use by the brain, and a lower risk of neurological problems.
The study produced by the team of researchers at Ohio State University compared the therapeutic effects of the experimental compound developed with a nanomaterial, with the effects of insulin alone and the nanomaterial alone in mouse models with type 1 diabetes. Measures of blood glucose control and insulin-related gene activity in the brains of mice treated with combination therapy approached those of healthy animals, and these same mice performed better in tests involving thinking and memory..
Previous studies have linked both type 1 and type 2 diabetes to problems with cognitive function and a higher risk of dementia, but “LAnd neurological complications of diabetes are the least addressed“, he has declared Ouliana Ziouzenkovaassociate professor of humanities at Ohio State and senior author of the study: “We found in mice that our combined molecule and insulin were better than any treatment alone in reversing diabetes-related problems and produced significantly improved cognitive performance compared to all other groups. “
The molecule that scientists used to bind to the chemical structure of insulin, called AAC2was developed in the study’s co-senior author’s laboratory Jon Parquetteprofessor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State.
Parquette, together with the other researchers, developed a series of molecules from small amino acid chains and, to complement AAC2, the addition of a structural fragment of the antioxidant coumarin.. The chains are designed to stack like bricks and attach to each other in a way that allows them to self-assemble into nanofibers that carry a positive electrical charge. The electrical forces hold insulin and AAC2 together to form a supramolecular complex.
“This is important because many things that happen on a biological scale appear to be on the nanoscale. Proteins, cell surfaces, viruses are all nanoscale objects“, Explained the scientist:”So if you can create things that work on that scale, you have a better ability to intervene in biological processes“.
The bodies of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes do not produce enough insulin and, in people with type 2 diabetes, the body cannot properly use insulin to transfer sugar from the blood to muscles and fat cells and many other cells in the body, which use glucose for energy.
The brain, an organ that needs glucose for fuel, relies on specific transporters to deliver glucose, transporters whose function can be impaired by irregularities in glucose levels such as those that occur in diabetes. It therefore becomes interesting to evaluate the insulin / nanomaterial combo.
During the research, experiments were conducted on mice that were chemically and genetically modified to work on insulin deficiencies that cause high blood sugar levels, the hallmark of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The researchers injected the animals every three days with human insulin alone (used to distinguish treatment from insulin produced by mice), AAC2 alone, or human insulin-bound AAC2 as a combination therapy.
The team found that only combination therapy produced stable glucose levels in the mice over a long period of time and positively influenced gene expression and neurotransmitter transport in their brains.. Mice treated with nanomaterial combination therapy also performed better on cognitive behavioral tests than animals treated with insulin alone or the AAC2 nanofiber.
Evidence has indicated that these benefits are related to how the interactions of insulin with the nanomaterial affect two aspects of the use of glucose in the body: the breakdown of glucose for energy metabolism and the use of glucose for storage and structural needs. Together, these positive effects of therapy can restore a healthy energy balance.
“Our intuition provided a balanced metabolic effect involving a completely unique pathway that is induced by this supramolecular complex“, Concluded Ziouzenkova.
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