New Research At The Salk Institute

I was a terrible science student in high school and college, yet I am fascinated as an adult by many areas of science, especially research in the sciences that are improving man's quality of life.  I get newsletters from the Salk Institute that keep me up to date on such things, and a recent article about the work of Ronald M. Evans, professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory, got my attention.

Dr. Evans' lab discovered a large family of molecules, named receptors, that respond to various steroid hormones, vitamin A and thyroid hormones.  These hormones help control sugar, salt, calcium and fat metabolism: thus they impact our daily health as well as treatment of disease.  The receptors Evans discovered are primary targets in the treatment of breast cancer, prostate cancer and leukemia, as well as osteoporosis and asthma.  Additionally, Evans' studies led to a  new hormone that appears to be the molecular trigger controlling the formation of fat cells, and represents one of the newest and most important advances in understanding problems arising from excess weight and obesity and the potential treatment of Type 2 diabetes..

Without getting too scientific, what this means is this:  Evans' team has identified the missing link in the regulation of metabolism.  This linchpin is a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1), which may open new avenues to the treatment of diabetes. FGF1 activity is triggered by a high-fat diet, and mice lacking the protein swiftly develop diabetes.  This suggest that FGF1 is crucial to maintain the body's sensitivity to insulin and normal levels of sugar in the blood.  Additional findings were found by Evans regarding the sleep patterns of mammals (sleep is a fasting period), and synchronizing rhythms of behavior and metabolic processes is important for cardiovascular health, and for preventing metabolic disease.

Everyday, scientists are discovering new treatments for diseases we thought we had the answer to.  It seems the more we know and find out, the more we realize how little we know.  It's all so interesting to me.