National Institute of Dental Research other research news

Researchers identified and sequenced the IA-2beta protein, which they said can be used as a marker for Type I diabetes. The protein is a member of a family of regulatory molecules, tyrosine phosphatases, present in insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

IA-2beta is similar to a known protein, IA-2, which is a major autoantigen in Type I diabetes, and both are precursors of two islet cell autoantigens. When used in diagnostic assays, IA-2 and IA-2beta recognized autoantibodies in 70 percent of Type I diabetics. When these were combined with a third marker protein, GAD65, the number was increased to 90 percent. ...