In January, Fumihiko Urano, MD, PhD and collaborator, Shuntaro Morikawa had their research review titled “The Role of ER Stress in Diabetes: Exploring Pathological Mechanisms Using Wolfram Syndrome,” published in the “International Journal of Molecular Sciences.”
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an important cytosolic organelle that contributes to the folding and processing of new secretory proteins, including insulin. Stress of the ER is “known to contribute to the dysfunction of the insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells.”
In the review, Urano and Morikawa evaluate the mechanisms of which dysregulated ER stress responses contribute to Type 2 Diabetes pathogenesis. They also “describe new treatment methods targeting protein folding and ER stress pathways with a particular focus on pivotal studies of Wolfram syndrome, a monogenic form of syndromic diabetes caused by pathogenic variants in the WFS1 gene, which also leads to ER dysfunction.”
The Role of ER Stress in Diabetes: Exploring Pathological Mechanisms Using Wolfram Syndrome