Role of cilia in developing hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance

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Patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity have a higher insulin content in the blood than people without those conditions. It is still not clear whether high insulin content is a cause or a result of these diseases. Currently it is known that there are two key elements driving insulin levels up and thus it is important for us to understand; 1. why pancreatic cells are producing/secreting more insulin and what factors control it? and 2. why do muscle and fat cells (the target cells for insulin) not respond to normal levels of insulin? Recent evidence suggests that defects in cilia, a hair like structure protruding from most cells, might be involved in the development of obesity. Our study is designed to understand whether there may be too many insulin producing cells (in the pancreas), or too little response from muscle and fat cells. Once that is known we will then determine the novel molecular and cellular mechanisms of cilia involvement in hyperinsulinaemia (increased level of insulin). Only through understanding the mechanisms of disease and the factors controlling it, can we begin to design therapy or management regimens to combat these increasingly common diseases.