Size-sensing protein controls glucose uptake and storage in fat cells
"Although we have created a mouse that is resistant to weight gain by removing the SWELL1 protein, the mouse is not healthy; it has insulin resistance and glucose intolerance," says Rajan Sah, MD, PhD, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and senior author of the study. Type 2 diabetes is one of the more serious health problems associated with obesity. The disease makes cells less sensitive to insulin and causes blood sugar levels to become abnormally high. It is healthier for the body to store excess glucose as fat rather than have it circulating in the blood where it can damage blood vessels and nerves. In healthy people, insulin released in response to high glucose levels acts on many different tissues to coordinate use or storage of the glucose. It triggers fat cells to take up excess glucose and store it as fat. Sah's study, which was published recently in Nature Cell Biology , found that removing SWEL...