Can our bones protect us against diabetes and obesity?

IRCM researchers discover a new function of the bone associated with energy and glucose metabolism

MONTRÉAL, March 13, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - A team of researchers at the IRCM led by Mathieu Ferron, PhD, in collaboration with researchers at Columbia University, discovered a new function of the skeleton associated with diabetes and obesity. The scientific breakthrough, published today in the scientific journal The Journal of Cell Biology, reveals how a hormone produced by bones, and controlled in part by vitamin K, can influence the whole body's energy and glucose metabolism.

Dr. Ferron's team studies osteoblasts, the cells responsible for bone formation. More precisely, the researchers are interested in a hormone produced by these bone cells, called osteocalcin, which is involved in controlling insulin and glucose.

"Our previous work had shown that osteocalcin can improve glucose intolerance in diabetic mice," explains Dr. Ferron, Director of the Integrative and Molecular Physiology research unit at the IRCM. "In fact, we demonstrated this hormone increases the production and secretion of insulin by the pancreas, as well as sensitivity to insulin in peripheral tissue such as muscle and body fat."

According to circumstantial evidence within the scientific community, it was suggested that osteocalcin is controlled by gamma-carboxylation, a process that modifies the hormone's function and relies on vitamin K. To confirm or refute this theory, IRCM researchers studied the enzymes that alter osteocalcin and observed the impact they had on glucose. To do so, they examined mice in which the enzymes responsible for gamma-carboxylation or recycling vitamin K had been inactivated specifically in osteoblasts.

"We confirmed that osteocalcin's hormonal activity relies on vitamin K, which in turn participates in the gamma-carboxylation process," adds Dr. Ferron. "More concretely, when this process is inhibited in osteoblasts, osteocalcin becomes more active, which translates into improved glucose levels and improved sensitivity to insulin that, as a result, protects against type 2 diabetes and obesity."

Combined with their past work, this study allowed the scientists to further understand a new function of the bone, which acts as an endocrine organ by producing a hormone, osteocalcin, to influence energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity.

"While this breakthrough may seem surprising at first, it shows that the bone is similar to many other organs; it is both a receiver and a transmitter of hormonal signals," concludes Dr. Ferron. "A better understanding of the function of osteocalcin could eventually lead to the development of therapies for type 2 diabetes and obesity that would target vitamin K or gamma-carboxylation in osteoblasts."

About the study
The study was funded by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States and the Fondation J.A DeSève. IRCM authors for the article also include Julie Lacombe, PhD, Research Associate, and Amélie Germain, Master's student. They collaborated with Gérard Karsenty and his team from Columbia University in New York.

For more information, please refer to the article summary published online by The Journal of Cell Biology: http://jcb.rupress.org/content/early/2015/03/03/jcb.201409111.abstract.

About Mathieu Ferron
Mathieu Ferron obtained a PhD in molecular biology from Université de Montréal. He is Assistant IRCM Research Professor and Director of the Integrative and Molecular Physiology research unit. Dr. Ferron is Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Medicine (accreditation in molecular biology, and in biochemistry and molecular medicine) at Université de Montréal. He is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine (Division of Experimental Medicine) at McGill University. Dr. Ferron hols the Canada Research Chair in Bone and Energy Metabolism, and is a research scholar from the John-R.-Evans Leaders Fund from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. For more information, visit  www.ircm.qc.ca/ferron.

About the IRCM
The IRCM (www.ircm.qc.ca) is a renowned biomedical research institute located in the heart of Montréal's university district. Founded in 1967, it is currently comprised of 35 research units and four specialized research clinics (cholesterol, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and obesity, hypertension). The IRCM is affiliated with the Université de Montréal, and the IRCM Clinic is associated to the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM). It also maintains a long-standing association with McGill University. The IRCM is funded by the Quebec ministry of Economy, Innovation and Export Trade (Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et des Exportations).

SOURCE Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM)

and to schedule an interview with Dr. Ferron, please contact: Julie Langelier, Communications Officer (IRCM), [email protected], [phone]; Lucette Thériault, Communications Director (IRCM), [email protected], [phone]