Unscrambling
Diabetes - it's all about FAT
Lindsay
Wu
One
person every 10 minutes is being diagnosed with diabetes in
Australia –
Will you be next?
HOW DO YOU STUDY DIABETES?
The highlight of my day on the 12th of April 2006 involved
the optimization of an experiment that will assist in the
isolation and identification of novel proteins
involved in insulin
signalling.
WHY AM I STUDYING PROTEINS AND
INSULIN SIGNALING WHEN PEOPLE ARE DYING?
Improving our understanding of the underlying mechanism of
insulin signalling and resistance of
type
2 diabetes will allow
us to create better diagnosis, better treatments and ultimately
prevention of this costly and deadly disease.
MY BACKGROUND
I am currently completing a PhD in the field of biochemistry
at the Garvan
Institute of Medical Research. Our group is interested
in the process of cellular glucose
transport, in the context of type 2 diabetes.
WHAT IS TYPE 2 DIABETES ANYWAY?
Type 2 diabetes is a disorder of glucose metabolism.
Normally when we eat a meal, food is broken down in the
gut, and is released into the bloodstream. This rise in blood
glucose levels is detected by the pancreas,
which secretes an important hormone, insulin, into the bloodstream.
Insulin circulates throughout the bloodstream, and interacts
with fat, muscle, and the liver.
When insulin comes into contact with a muscle, fat or liver
cell, it sets off an intracellular signalling pathway. One
of the end results of this pathway is glucose transport -
the cell sucks up glucose from the bloodstream, and lowers
blood glucose. In type 2 diabetes, cells undergo “insulin
resistance”, and despite coming into contact with insulin,
some unknown defect in the intracellular signaling pathway
blocks the signal that allows cells to suck up glucose.
WHATS SO INTERESTING ABOUT THE
INTRACELLULAR SIGNALING PATHWAY?
This intracellular signalling pathway, which is thought to
contain the defects that prevent cells from sucking up glucose
from the bloodstream, is almost entirely composed of proteins
that are able to “talk” to one another, by a chemical modification
known as phosphorylation.
Insulin signalling is an incredibly complex problem that involves
dozens, perhaps hundreds of proteins, which “talk” to one
another in different ways, under different conditions.
Understanding how each protein talks to other proteins is
critical to understanding type 2 diabetes. If we are able
to understand precisely how proteins within the cell “talk”
to one another, then we should be able to understand where
exactly the defect exists in diabetic cells, and have a chance
at targeting these defective proteins for drug treatment.
THE "SCIENCE" BEHIND SOLVING THE PROBLEM
My project involves using a technique known as “mass
spectrometry”, which allows identification of proteins
by precisely measuring their molecular weight. Using this
technique, I hope to isolate and identify all of the proteins
that “talk” to one another in response to insulin.
My experiment on April the 12th was designed to increase the
efficiency of isolation of these proteins that are found to
be “talking” to one another in response to insulin. This experiment
was essentially a sort of titration,
based on the same concept as the acid/base titration all high
school chemistry students are taught.
HOW I GOT INVOLVED IN RESEARCHING
DIABETES
This is currently my first year of my PhD. I am currently
enrolled through UNSW, however the vast majority of my work
takes place at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. The
mass spectrometry part of my work takes place in the bioanalytical
mass spectrometry unit at UNSW.
Last year, I completed my undergraduate studies. My undergrad
degree was a Bachelor of Science (molecular biotechnology),
with a major in biochemistry, followed up by first class honours
in chemistry, from The University of Sydney. Honours was a
great experience, I was given an expenses paid trip to the
USA to do experiments using an x-ray beamline not available
in Australia (but will be available in 2008). I completed
some great research that will hopefully be published in the
near future.
"A CAREER IN SCIENCE
IS A GREAT WAY TO TRAVEL"
In the future, after my PhD, I aim to take up a position as
a post-doctoral researcher in a couple of overseas positions.
A career in science is a great way to travel, to further one’s
career, working overseas is a must. Places available include
the US, Europe, however Singapore and Hong Kong are fast emerging
as centres of life science research.
MORE ON ME !!!
I chose to do science at the end of high school because I
enjoyed biology and chemistry. I was motivated by medical
research, and finding cures for human disease. Biotechnology
is a rapidly growing field with applications that have the
potential to improve life around the world. I like to think
of getting into the field at the early stages as the equivalent
of Bill Gates and his mates mucking around in their garage
before the true power of computing kicked off the I.T. revolution.
Here's me playing with the end of a synchrotron
beamline in the US.
Interesting links!
Diabetes Australia
www.diabetesaustralia.com.au
Australian Diabetes Society
www.racp.edu.au/ads
American Diabetes Association
www.diabetes.org
International Diabetes Federation
www.idf.org/home/
The World Health Organisation
www.who.int/en/
Written by Lindsay Wu - Edited by Catherine Beehag
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