1. Targeting gp130 to prevent inflammation and promote insulin action.
- Author
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Kraakman, M. J., Allen, T. L., Whitham, M., Iliades, P., Kammoun, H. L., Estevez, E., Lancaster, G. I., and Febbraio, M. A.
- Subjects
TYPE 2 diabetes ,OBESITY ,PATHOLOGICAL physiology ,INTERLEUKIN-6 ,CELLULAR signal transduction ,INSULIN resistance ,THERAPEUTIC use of monoclonal antibodies - Abstract
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are now the most prevalent metabolic diseases in the Western world and the development of new strategies to treat these metabolic diseases is most warranted. Obesity results in a state of chronic low-grade inflammation in metabolically active tissues such as the liver, adipose tissue, brain and skeletal muscle. Work in our laboratory has focussed on the role of the cytokine interleukin-6 ( IL)-6 and other IL-6-like cytokines that signal through the gp130 receptor complex. We have focussed on the role of blocking IL-6 trans-signalling to prevent inflammation on the one hand, and activating membrane-bound signalling to promote insulin sensitivity on the other hand. Since the cloning of the IL-6 gene nearly 30 years ago, a pattern has emerged associating IL-6 with a number of diseases associated with inflammation including rheumatoid arthritis ( RA), Crohn's disease and several cancers. Accordingly, tocilizumab, an IL-6 receptor-inhibiting monoclonal antibody, is now useful for the treatment of RA. However, this may not be the most optimal strategy to block inflammation associated with IL-6 and may result in unwanted side effects that, paradoxically, could actually promote metabolic disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
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