Taiwanese researchers have identified a gene that they say might help doctors treat diabetes.
A study by a research team at Academia Sinica’s Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center showed that the expression of protein disulfide isomerase family A member 4 (PDIA4) is linked to diabetes.
The research was published in this month’s issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine, an open-source, peer-reviewed scientific journal based in Europe.
Photo courtesy of Yang Wen-chin
When people — or mice, which also carry PDIA4 — are overnourished, expression of the protein-coding gene increases in the beta cells of the pancreas, the study said.
This triggers a process that leads to metabolic stress and eventual death of the pancreatic cells that secrete insulin, resulting in diabetes, it said.
Removing the gene from diabetic mice alleviates their condition in a number of ways, including lessening the destruction of pancreatic cells, lowering blood sugar levels and increasing insulin secretion, it said.
Eliminating the gene can sometimes fully reverse diabetes in mice, which might occur without intervention or in combination with a reduced diet, the study said.
In addition, the scientists created a PDIA4 inhibitor they call PS1 that suppresses the progression of diabetes in mice, it said.
These findings show that the PDIA4 gene could be the key in the search for a cure for diabetes, it said.
Lead researcher Yang Wen-chin (楊文欽), a research fellow at the center, on Thursday said that the gene has the potential to become the first-ever therapeutic treatment for diabetes, should it pass clinical trials.
Ministry of Health and Welfare data show that 9.8 percent of Taiwanese have diabetes, while the National Health Insurance pays NT$30 billion (US$1.08 billion) annually in medical expenses related to the condition.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Taiwanese singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) plans to take to the courts of the Australian Open for the first time as a competitor in the high-stakes 1 Point Slam. The Australian Open yesterday afternoon announced the news on its official Instagram account, welcoming Chou — who celebrates his 47th birthday on Sunday — to the star-studded lineup of the tournament’s signature warm-up event. “From being the King of Mandarin Pop filling stadiums with his music to being Kato from The Green Hornet and now shifting focus to being a dedicated tennis player — welcome @jaychou to the 1 Point Slam and #AusOpen,” the
RSS