Infant diabetes may be enzyme deficiency

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say insulin-dependent, permanent diabetes in infants may be caused by a deficiency in the enzyme Pancreatic Endoplasmic Reticulum Kinase.

The hypothesis by researchers at Penn State University suggests a PERK deficiency might occur during a critical period of development before birth.

Using special strains of mice bred to be PERK-deficient, the scientists demonstrated the lack of the enzyme blocked the proliferation of beta cells, hampering the normal functioning of beta cells and also kept beta cells from clustering into islets.

"What happens during fetal development predisposes people either to be able to maintain glucose levels normally or to have diabetes," said study leader Professor Douglas Cavener.

The team -- Cavener; graduate students Wei Zhang, Yulin Li and Kaori Iida; Postdoctoral Fellow Daorong Feng; and Assistant Professor Barbara McGrath -- report the study in the current issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.