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| Chinese Researchers Discover a New Function of Insulin Receptor |
| 2009-09-29 |
Researchers from Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences recently found a novel biological function of IRS-1 (insulin receptor substrate-1). The results were published in "Cancer Research" of Sep 15th, which is available online.
EMT(Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition) is a process that is implicated in embryonic development, wound repair, and fibrotic diseases, tumor invasion and metastasis. Studies in this filed are important for understanding the underlying mechanisms of some patho-physiological events, and can contribute to the establishment of effective new strategy and method for treating relevant diseases.
Song Jianguo and his research team observed that TGF-β1 (transforming growth factor-b1)-induced EMT is accompanied with a decrease in the levels of tyrosine phosphorylation and the protein molecules of IRS-1.
The results showed that high IRS-1 protein levels played an important part in the suppression of TGF-b1-induced EMT and in maintaining the epithelial phenotype of cells. Their work also showed that IRS-1 suppresses TGF-β1-induced EMT through a mechanism involving the modulation of the expression of snail and slug. The studies are helpful for better understanding of the TGF-β1 signaling and the biological functions of IRS-1.
The research was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality.
Paper Abstract: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/0008-5472.CAN-08-4470v1
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