Researchers from Case Western Reserve University in the US have now pulled back the molecular curtain and figured out why insulin, the hormone that maintains stable blood sugar, often stops working at its full effect.
The principal investigator, Jonathan Stamler, is widely acclaimed for the discovery of S-nitrosylation, which is the process that turns nitric oxide (NO) into a ubiquitous messenger molecule capable of sharing information between cells. It’s kind of like putting a stamp on a letter.
Nitric oxide is produced in almost all cell types and tissues, and it plays a crucial role in the functioning of the nervous system, the immune system, and in blood vessel dilation. What’s more, dysregulation of S-nitrosylation is increasingly found to be associated with a number of health conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, sickle cell disease, and asthma.
Only recently, however, has NO been linked to aspects of the body’s metabolism.
Stamler and his colleagues previously suspected that the role of NO is overlooked in some types of diabetes, and now, they have the evidence to support their hypothesis.