Tricia Cohen has been awarded a grant of £135,435 from January 2003 until December 2005 from Diabetes UK to investigate the roles of the glycogen-targeting subunits of protein phosphatase 1 in the action of insulin and the development of impaired glucose tolerance and obesity.
Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is characterised by impaired glucose tolerance and is associated with other pathological conditions of insulin resistance and obesity. Several studies indicate that insulin stimulated glycogen synthesis is impaired in NIDDM. Genetic variants of the skeletal muscle glycogen-bound protein phosphatase 1, a key enzyme in the activation of glycogen synthesis, have been associated with diabetes and insulin resistance in some human populations. Tricia and her team have engineered a strain of mice, defective in this enzyme. The purpose of the project is to examine the nature of the genetic factors that predispose to the increased weight gain, impaired glucose tolerance and obesity observed in this strain in later life and the sequence of events leading to these abnormalities.
Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is characterised by impaired glucose tolerance and is associated with other pathological conditions of insulin resistance and obesity. Several studies indicate that insulin stimulated glycogen synthesis is impaired in NIDDM. Genetic variants of the skeletal muscle glycogen-bound protein phosphatase 1, a key enzyme in the activation of glycogen synthesis, have been associated with diabetes and insulin resistance in some human populations. Tricia and her team have engineered a strain of mice, defective in this enzyme. The purpose of the project is to examine the nature of the genetic factors that predispose to the increased weight gain, impaired glucose tolerance and obesity observed in this strain in later life and the sequence of events leading to these abnormalities.