Novel, Insulin-Responsive Glucose Transporter

Executive Summary

          Researchers at Wake Forest University have identified, cloned and expressed a novel, insulin-responsive glucose transporter that is located in a Type II Diabetes linked region of chromosome 20: Glut10.  Polymorphisms have been discovered which are significantly associated with incidence of Type II Diabetes.  In the United States and Europe, 47.3 million people have Type II Diabetes.  These individuals do not need insulin injections.  They are able to produce insulin, but their bodies do not use the insulin properly to remove glucose from the body. 

         Glut10 and its polymorphisms represent an exciting new target for therapeutic compounds which will address Type II Diabetes.  Screening compounds against the polymorphisms as well as the wild-type should allow for the discovery of new compounds that increase the total glucose transport in people with Type II Diabetes.