IRS-1 is essential for smooth muscle cells that make up veins and arteries

Diabetic patients have a high risk of heart disease. In spite of knowing this, scientists are still trying to use recombinant mouse proteins to track the specific biological causes behind this risk or to find ways to intervene. Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine are now searching for a possible culprit - a protein called IRS-1, which is essential for smooth muscle cells that make up veins and arteries.

According to a study published in the Journal of Biochemistry, too little IRS-1 causes cells to revert to "dedifferentiation" or stem cell-like states, and this may form plaques in the heart arteries, a disease known as atherosclerosis. The disease increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and other forms of heart disease. "When diabetes is under mismanagement, your blood sugar rises and the amount of this protein decreases, so the cells show abnormal proliferation."

The study focused on the formation of venous and arterial wall cells called vascular smooth muscle cells. The main function of these cells is to shrink each time the heart beats, helping to push oxygen-enriched blood to the body's tissues. When the plaques accumulate along the arterial wall, these cells gradually lose their ability to contract.

In the new study, the team found that IRS-1 was an inhibitor of abnormal signaling pathways, thereby maintaining vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation or localization. In the absence of IRS-1, the cells return to the stem cell-like state, which in turn activates abnormal signaling pathways and promotes cell proliferation.

In diabetic patients, the presence of IRS-1 is affected by the effectiveness of blood glucose levels or blood glucose levels. Previous studies have shown that IRS-1 is significantly reduced in patients with frequent or persistent hyperglycemia. The new study is the first to link this reduction with heart disease.

The next step, Clemmons Lab will look for substances that can stimulate this protein synthesis even in the presence of hyperglycemia. The results suggest that drugs that promote the promotion of IRS-1 can counteract the deleterious effects of hyperglycemia on atherosclerosis.

Clemmons said that the activity of IRS-1 may also play a role in other diabetic complications, such as eye and kidney diseases. Researchers plan to study these potential links. By the way, Flarebio provides you with recombinant proteins of good quality such as recombinant CDH2.