We commonly hear from health professionals that obesity is a risk factor for developing diabetes, but why is this the case? How is high body fat linked to the dysregulation of our blood sugar levels? Does obesity trigger specific processes in our body that eventually lead to diabetes? Dr. Petra Kienesberger has long pondered these questions and dedicated her research career to answering them.
Dr. Kienesberger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Dalhousie University. On a mission to unravel the link between type 2 diabetes and obesity, she began her career conducting diverse experiments to discover what underlying mechanisms are involved.
Her research zeroed in on a pro-inflammatory protein called autotaxin. Our fat cells release these harmful autotaxins into our bloodstream, where they generate a fat molecule called lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). LPA is not just a regular molecule - it acts as a messenger, activating various cellular processes in our body and triggering widespread inflammation. Her research showed that the more body fat one had, the more autotaxin was made and released, and therefore the more inflammatory LPA was in the blood. She also discovered that the high autotaxin and LPA levels induced by obesity could be linked to impaired blood sugar balance and impaired insulin function (i.e. insulin resistance).
So, why is this important? Well, one cause of type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance. It is where our tissues, such as our muscles, become unresponsive to signals sent by insulin. As a result, our tissues do not take up and store excess blood glucose, leading to high blood sugar levels.
Dr. Kienesberger is working to understand the autotaxin-LPA pathway and the components involved that may lead to obesity-related type 2 diabetes. This work is extremely important as it could identify therapies that specifically target this pathway to prevent or improve obesity-induced insulin resistance.
She is also examining the link between the autotaxin-LPA pathway and heart disease, an obesity-related condition often seen in people living with type 2 diabetes. On top of that, in collaboration with other researchers, she is delving into the world of small proteins (called peptides), such as milk-based whey protein, and their roles in the development of insulin resistance.
Not only has Dr. Kienesberger been recognized for her scientific achievements as a renowned scientist, but she is also a well-respected mentor to her research trainees and students. She was awarded the Mentor of the Month award by the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation in May 2021, exemplifying her inspiring leadership and active commitment to develop the next generation of well-rounded researchers.
— Written by Ayaat Hassan