The discovery, reported in this week's issue of the international scientific journal Nature, has major implications for our understanding of the mechanisms behind growth and development, and diseases such as diabetes and many forms of cancer. Dr Tom Garrett of the BRI in Melbourne. The diabetes aspect of the work was funded in part by Biota Diabetes Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Biota Holdings Limited, and the Federal Government's AusIndustry program.
Receptors are vital links in the body's command chain.
Messenger chemicals like hormones and growth factors attach and switch on their special receptor, which in turns commands the cell to perform particular tasks, such as to grow or to process sugar. The team is the first in the world to clarify the structure of half of the IGF receptor, marking a major scientific milestone in a field of research that has been running since the late 1960s when the 3D structure of insulin was determined. IGF is important to the body's normal growth and development - but when it gets out of control it can also cause the growth of cancer cells. We hope this work in time will lead to a better understanding of ways to control certain cancers. This is a milestone in that process - but there is still a long, long way to go.