Potential treatment target identified for rare form of diabetes

Scientists working to find treatments for a severe form of diabetes called Wolfram syndrome have identified a gatekeeper in cells that prevents harmful molecules from spilling into places where they don’t belong and triggering cell death. The researchers, at Washington University School of Medicine, also found that the gatekeeper may be a good treatment target for other disorders caused by cellular stress.

Treatment target for diabetes, Wolfram syndrome

Inflammation and cell stress are major factors in diabetes. Cell stress also plays a role in Wolfram syndrome, a rare, genetic disorder that afflicts children with many symptoms, including juvenile-onset diabetes. Now scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere have identified a molecule that’s key to the cell stress-modulated inflammation that causes insulin-secreting cells to die.