Type 2 diabetes and the role of microRNAs

The role of microRNAs in the developmental programming of Type 2 diabetes, and their value as biomarkers of disease risk.

• Professor Susan Ozanne of the University of Cambridge
• £227,840; Three-year project grant
• October 2012 – October 2015

Background to project

Exposure to poor nutrition and other adverse conditions during fetal development can permanently ‘program’ the metabolism in ways that increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes in later life. However, the mechanisms underlying this link are not fully understood.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge believe that fetal nutrition influences the levels of small regulatory molecules (called microRNAs), which in turn influence the levels of key proteins involved in the action of insulin.

Project aims

This study aims to shed light on the molecular mechanisms that link poor fetal nutrition with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in adults.

Professor Susan Ozanne and her team will feed pregnant rats on a low-protein diet and measure changes in the microRNAs and proteins produced by their offspring. They will compare these changes to those observed in the offspring of rats fed a normal diet and those seen in humans of both low and normal birth weights.

The researchers will also determine whether changes to microRNAs are observed in blood cells as well as fat cells and investigate the effects on metabolism when levels of specific microRNAs are increased or decreased.

Potential benefit to people with diabetes

By improving our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that contribute to an increased risk of diabetes, this study could highlight new pathways that might provide a target for new therapies.

The researchers also hope to discover molecular markers that could be used as part of a simple blood test to determine whether a baby is at risk of Type 2 diabetes before the disease develops, thus enabling the use of prevention strategies among those most at risk.