PDE3B Regulates Energy Levels In Mice

December 7, 2006 – 12:26 pm | posted in Diabetes

Insulin acts on many cells to exert its control over the amount of energy that is available to the body. When cells become resistant to the effects of insulin, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders can develop. Understanding the molecular pathways by which insulin affects the different cells might provide clues as to why insulin resistance develops. Now, in a study appearing in the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute have shown that a protein known as PDE3B has a non-redundant role in some of the molecular pathways activated by insulin in mice.

Young Hun Choi and colleagues generated mice lacking PDE3B and found that lipid metabolism, which is regulated by insulin, was dysregulated in these animals. Although when stimulated, PDE3B-deficient mice secreted more insulin than normal mice, the PDE3B-deficient mice were less able to control their blood glucose levels and to regulate lipid metabolism. This demonstration of insulin resistance in PDE3B-deficient mice indicates that PDE3B has an irreplaceable role in the molecular pathways that are activated by insulin. The authors therefore suggest that altered expression or activity of PDE3B might have a role in the development of insulin resistance in humans.

TITLE: Alterations in regulation of energy homeostasis in cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 3B-null mice.

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Young Hun Choi
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

View the PDF of this article at: http://https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=24867

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