Your muscles can 'taste' sugar
Now researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute have uncovered an unexpected mechanism of glucose sensing in skeletal muscles that contributes to the body's overall regulation of blood sugar levels. "We found that skeletal muscle cells have machinery to directly sense glucose -- in a certain sense it's like the muscles can taste sugar, too," said senior study author Jiandie Lin, a faculty member at the LSI, where his lab is located. This ability of muscles to sense blood glucose is a separate and parallel process that augments the insulin-driven response. Together they work as a rheostat to maintain steady glucose levels in the body, particularly after a meal, according to findings scheduled to be published May 4 in Molecular Cell . Continuing to develop this in-depth understanding of how the body self-regulates blood sugar at the molecular level could shed new light on obesity and diabetes, as well as point toward new therapeutic targe...