A Breakdown in Communication: Mitochondria of Diabetic Patients Can’t Keep Time
upstart writes:
A breakdown in communication: Mitochondria of diabetic patients can't keep time:
Almost all cells regulate their biological processes over a 24-hour period, otherwise called a cell's circadian rhythm. To do so, cells use a biological clock that cycles different genes on and off throughout the day and night. Scientists already know that our metabolic health can suffer when our biological clock breaks down, due to shift work or sleep disorders, for example. However, it's unclear how exactly the biological clock of people with type 2 diabetes differs from healthy people.
Now a team of international scientists has shown that the skeletal muscle in people with type 2 diabetes has a different circadian rhythm. They argue that this might arise because of a communication breakdown between a cell's time keeping molecules and mitochondria, which produce chemical energy for cells.
[...] Some of the most widely used pharmacological treatments for type 2 diabetes affect mitochondria, meaning that they may work differently depending on the time of day they are taken. As a result, these findings highlight the importance of considering cellular rhythms when prescribing treatments for type 2 diabetes.
Journal Reference:
Brendan M. Gabriel, Ali Altnta, Jonathon A. B. Smith, et aj. Disrupted circadian oscillations in type 2 diabetes are linked to altered rhythmic mitochondrial metabolism in skeletal muscle, Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abi9654)
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