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Media Inquiries: 434-924-5679 U.VA. WINS GRANT, AWARD FOR INSULIN GENE RESEARCH |
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Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System want to find out if it’s possible to “turn on” cells of the body to produce insulin, potentially helping millions of diabetics worldwide. Dr. Raghu Mirmira, assistant professor in the division of endocrinology and metabolism at U.Va., received a $912,000 grant over five years from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to investigate how insulin-producing cells form. Mirmira then hopes to use this knowledge to try and convert other cell types into insulin-producing cells. Research into the molecular defects underlying diabetes reveals that all forms of the disease result at some level from the impaired ability of pancreatic beta cells to produce sufficient insulin. “Through this generous grant from the ADA, we will characterize in detail the chromatin structure of the insulin gene within the nucleus of different types of cells,” Mirmira said. “Subsequently, we want to determine how the structure of the insulin gene changes as precursor cells develop into beta cells. We anticipate these studies may ultimately allow us to intervene, when insulin production stops, by remodeling the chromatin in non-beta cells, making them more capable of insulin production.” Mirmira and his colleagues at U.Va. have discovered that, though the insulin gene is present in every cell, the three-dimensional structure of insulin in the chromatin of beta cells is more “open” and different than that in other cells, making a perfect target for their insulin research. In fact, Mirmira’s grant application so impressed scientists at the American Diabetes Association that they decided to give him the Thomas R. Lee Career Development Award, given annually to the research applicant with the highest reviewer score. The Lee award is named for a businessman from Norfolk, Va. who had diabetes and donated much of his estate to the ADA for diabetes research. “This year, we are delighted that this prestigious award will go to a young investigator, Dr. Raghu Mirmira, who is examining the development of insulin-producing cells within the pancreas,” said diabetes expert Dr. Eugene Barrett, professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at U.Va. and current president of the ADA. “These studies promise to provide important information defining the molecular signals by which insulin-producing cells normally come into being. As these signals are identified, they will provide the basis of work to expand the availability of insulin-producing cells.” Barrett said this research supported by the ADA will be important to discovering how insulin secretion is impaired in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. February 2, 2004 |