Diabetic foot ulcers are a common complication of diabetes. People with type 1 or type 2 diabetes have a 15% risk of foot ulcers. Due to inadequate understanding of the pathogenic mechanism, current treatment options are limited.
Recently, researchers at the Karolinska Institute have discovered intercellular signaling pathways that play an important role of diabetic wound healing. In diabetic mice, wound healing is improved when the established signaling pathway is blocked.
The identified signaling pathway is called Notch. The pathway is activated by interaction of the membrane-bound Notch receptor (Notch 1-4) and its neighboring ligands (serrated 1-2 and Delta-like 1, 3, 4). The Notch pathway plays a pivotal role in cell differentiation, proliferation, and angiogenesis, processes that are profoundly disturbed in diabetic wounds.
The study found that there is an over-activated Notch1 signal in the skin of diabetic patients and in the skin models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mice too. The researchers studied the mechanism by experimenting with cultured skin cells. They point out that high glucose levels activate a specific Positive Delta-like 4 (Dll4)–Notch1 feedback loop.
The researchers applied topical blockers to skin wounds in diabetic mice, and genetically engineered diabetic mice to block their skin signaling pathways and test the effects of these two ways on signaling pathway healing. The results showed that local inhibition of Notch1 signaling significantly improved wound healing in diabetic animals, whereas non-diabetic animals did not.
"Our findings suggest that this is an attractive new target for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers," the researchers said. "Substances affecting this cellular signal have been developed for other diseases."
EIAAB SCIENCE INC, WUHAN has developed Notch 1 protein, antibody and ELISA kit.
Welcome scientific research workers to choose and purchase.