Injection of this small protein can protect type 1 diabetic cells

The study’s co-corresponding author and assistant professor of gerontology, Changhan David Lee, said that this small protein, which was originally used as a “exercise hormone” and became anti-obesity headlines, seems to regulate the immune system.

Regulates the immune system

Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that accounts for 5% to 10% of diabetes cases

In mice that have been genetically engineered to develop autoimmune diabetes, injection of MOTS-c can prevent the occurrence of diseases

"We were able to prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes in a mouse model," Lee said

On the contrary, in subsequent analysis of humans, the level of circulating MOTS-c in the blood of patients with type 1 diabetes was significantly lower than that of non-diabetic patients.

New goals for treatment

Lee explained that this potential immunomodulatory effect of MOTS-c highlights a possible new target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases other than type 1 diabetes

"For a long time, people have thought that the immune system is only encoded in the nuclear genome," Lee said

MOTS-c is one of several recently discovered hormones that code for mitochondrial DNA.

Lee and Professor Pinchas Cohen, Dean of the Leonard Davis College of the University of Southern California, first described MOTS-c in 2015 and its role in restoring insulin sensitivity and counteracting diet-induced and age-dependent insulin resistance.

"The mitochondrial genome encodes previously unknown genes that produce small proteins with multiple physiological roles, including aging, exercise, metabolism, and immunity," Lee said

Byung Soo Kong, Se Hee Min, Changhan Lee, Young Min Cho.