Researchers at Stanford University found the protein menin acts as a natural brake in the pancreas, controlling the production of cells needed to make insulin, which helps the body convert sugar into energy.
Pregnant mice genetically engineered to produce too much menin were unable to make enough insulin-producing islet cells and developed signs of gestational diabetes.
"We think our work raises new possibilities, including possibilities about how gestational diabetes and other forms of type 2 diabetes arise," said Dr. Seung Kim, associate professor of developmental biology at Stanford, whose study appears in the journal Science.
Gestational diabetes occurs when a woman previously free of diabetes is unable to make and use all the insulin she needs for pregnancy. In the United States, there are about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes each year, which can cause birth defects and may predispose the child to diabetes.
Other researchers have found that the hormone prolactin, found in abundance during pregnancy, triggers the production of insulin-producing islet cells during pregnancy.
The mechanism behind this process was not understood, but Kim and other researchers thought menin might play a role. Menin has already been shown to help prevent cancer in the pancreas by blocking cell growth.
Via Reuters
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