Glycerol 3-phosphate phosphatise (G3PP) may soon prove to be a saviour for mankind. It is an enzyme newly discovered by the scientists at University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM). The team was actually searching for mechanisms that convert excess glucose in beta cells into glycerol, before diverting them outside the cell wall altogether. During this procedure, they stumbled upon this enzyme by chance. According to the scientist team, this enzyme works to block the ill effects of sugar on the body.

The enzyme is present in all the mammals and plays the role of disposing of the unwanted by-products of increased glucose levels in the body. The team is super excited about this discovery because they believe that by discovering this key step in the metabolism of sugar, they have unveiled a new therapeutic target for conditions like type 2 diabetes and obesity. Based on this realization, they are now working in the direction of developing drugs that boost its activity.

Explaining the importance of the enzyme and this discovery in his words Marc Prentki, a principal investigator at CRCHUM and professor at the University of Montreal said: “When glucose is abnormally elevated in the body, glucose-derived glycerol-3 phosphate reaches excessive levels in cells and exaggerated glycerol 3 phosphate metabolism can damage various tissues. We found that G3PP is able to breakdown a great proportion of this excess glycerol phosphate to glycerol and divert it outside the cell, thus protecting the insulin producing beta cells of pancreas and various organs from toxic effects of high glucose levels.”

According to the team, the discovery is special and important also because in the past fifty years, discovering a novel enzyme behind the metabolism of nutrients in mammal tissue has been a rare occurrence and these rare discoveries can pave the way towards some astounding new revisions to biochemistry.

After this important discovery, the team of scientists is now completely immersed in finding small molecules that can serve as activators of G3PP to treat people suffering from cardio-metabolic disorders, heightened risk of diabetes, heart disease or stroke. When the team succeeds in achieving this, it will be a new dawn but before that, the scientists would have to prove the effectiveness by testing on animal models. Only after the successful testing, humans can benefit from it.

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Author: Technology Blog