Nov 30, 2020
The fundamental goal of Juan
Alvarez's research? "In a nutshell," he says, "I'm trying to cure
diabetes." This podcast discusses the exciting potential of his
goal by exploring the specific elements of pancreas function and
metabolic misfires that lead to diabetes.
Listen and learn
- How he's working on a substitution for pancreatic beta cells by developing islets in a laboratory,
- How he's untangling two common causes of type 2 diabetes, namely pancreatic beta cells losing maturity and insulin receptors losing efficiency, and
- How one promising approach addresses the importance of eating and fasting rhythms on pancreatic beta cell function.
Recently awarded an NIH Diabetes
Grant, Juan R. Alvarez is an HHMI LSRF Research Fellow with Melton
Laboratory at Harvard University. His research investigates causes
of diabetes such as the connection between nonfunctioning
pancreatic beta cells and diabetes and the impaired uptake of
insulin in adipose and muscle tissue. These describe two common
causes of type 2 diabetes.
In the first case, his group hypothesizes that the
pancreas's beta cells are over worked—an overwhelming demand
for insulin exhausts the cells and many begin to lose their mature
function or phenotype. They believe these cells protect themselves
and prevent cell death by returning to this progenitor
state.
The other common cause of type 2
diabetes is often termed "insulin resistance." It's the job of
insulin to encourage muscle and adipose tissues to take up glucose
from the blood and use it as fuel. These tissues have insulin
receptors to do just that, but in some cases, these receptors
become less efficient due to genetics or other metabolic issues or
a combination of the two.
Dr. Alvarez discusses some promising ways to address these causes,
including a focus on the effects eating and fasting rhythms may
have on the insulin-producing cells and how a jarring of that
rhythm could lead to the beta cells losing their mature state. If
they understand this, they might find a protein to reactivate or a
molecule to inhibit to bring the beta cells back to their mature
phenotype. He and Richard discuss other health connections between
diabetes and disease such as cancer and chronic pancreatitis and
diabetes. Listen in for how one top researcher is working on a cure
for diabetes.
For links to Dr. Alvarez's
published research, see his page at Harvard: hscrb.harvard.edu/people/juan-alvarez.
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK