BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Therapeutics

Therapeutics: DNA (cytosine-5-)-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1)

July 16, 2015 7:00 AM UTC

Mouse and patient sample studies suggest inhibiting DNMT1 could help treat metabolic complications associated with obesity. In adipocyte samples from obese and healthy individuals, DNMT1 levels correlated with body mass index. In obese mice, a small molecule inhibitor of DNMT1 decreased serum levels of fasting glucose and fasting insulin, glucose intolerance, insulin signaling in the liver and obesity-induced inflammation in adipose tissue compared with vehicle, whereas the inhibitor had no effect in non-obese mice. Next steps include investigating the mechanisms by which DNMT1 regulates obesity-associated metabolic complications. ...