Understanding fat

“We know that people who are overweight are prone to type 2 diabetes,” explains Associate Professor Schmitz-Peiffer. “What we’ve now proven is that a specific enzyme that is known to drive diabetes is activated by obesity.” This enzyme – protein kinase

C epsilon (PKC ) – has long been known to be involved in the generation of type 2 diabetes.

The surprising finding researchers made was that this enzyme isn’t acting in the liver, which has been assumed for at least a decade.

Previous research had established that mice which do not produce PKC at all will not develop diabetes-like symptoms – even under conditions where other mice become diabetic.

What Garvan’s world-first research uncovered was that inhibiting PKC production specifically in the liver did not protect the mice from becoming glucose intolerant. However, stopping PKC production in fat tissue protected the mice.

“When we closely examined fat tissue, we realised there is a striking difference in the shape and size of fat cells, depending on whether PKC is present,” says Associate

Professor Schmitz-Peiffer. “The results in mouse models suggest

PKC is acting from fat tissue to worsen the disease. When it’s chronically activated in obesity, it most likely alters the communication with liver and muscle and so reduces the proper storage of glucose.”