Diabetes, a disease in which carbohydrate and lipid metabolism are regulated improperly by insulin, is a serious worldwide health issue. Insulin is secreted from pancreatic beta cells in response to elevated plasma glucose, with various factors modifying its secretion. Free fatty acids (FFAs) provide an important energy source as nutrients, and they also act as signalling molecules in various cellular processes, including insulin secretion. Although FFAs are thought to promote insulin secretion in an acute phase, this mechanism is not clearly understood. Here we show that a G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR40, which is abundantly expressed in the pancreas, functions as a receptor for long-chain FFAs. Furthermore, we show that long-chain FFAs amplify glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells by activating GPR40. Our results indicate that GPR40 agonists and/or antagonists show potential for the development of new anti-diabetic drugs.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of human arthritis. We investigated the potential role of asporin, an extracellular matrix component expressed abundantly in the articular cartilage of individuals with osteoarthritis, in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. Here we report a significant association between a polymorphism in the aspartic acid (D) repeat of the gene encoding asporin (ASPN) and osteoarthritis. In two independent populations of individuals with knee osteoarthritis, the D14 allele of ASPN is over-represented relative to the common D13 allele, and its frequency increases with disease severity. The D14 allele is also over-represented in individuals with hip osteoarthritis. Asporin suppresses TGF-beta-mediated expression of the genes aggrecan (AGC1) and type II collagen (COL2A1) and reduced proteoglycan accumulation in an in vitro model of chondrogenesis. The effect on TGF-beta activity is allele-specific, with the D14 allele resulting in greater inhibition than other alleles. In vitro binding assays showed a direct interaction between asporin and TGF-beta. Taken together, these findings provide another functional link between extracellular matrix proteins, TGF-beta activity and disease, suggesting new therapeutic strategies for osteoarthritis.

Lumbar disc disease (LDD) is caused by degeneration of intervertebral discs of the lumbar spine. One of the most common musculoskeletal disorders, LDD has strong genetic determinants. Using a case-control association study, we identified a functional SNP (1184T --> C, resulting in the amino acid substitution I395T) in CILP, which encodes the cartilage intermediate layer protein, that acts as a modulator of LDD susceptibility. CILP was expressed abundantly in intervertebral discs, and its expression increased as disc degeneration progressed. CILP colocalized with TGF-beta1 in clustering chondrocytes and their territorial matrices in intervertebral discs. CILP inhibited TGF-beta1-mediated induction of cartilage matrix genes through direct interaction with TGF-beta1 and inhibition of TGF-beta1 signaling. The susceptibility-associated 1184C allele showed increased binding and inhibition of TGF-beta1. Therefore, we conclude that the extracellular matrix protein CILP regulates TGF-beta signaling and that this regulation has a crucial role in the etiology and pathogenesis of LDD. Our study also adds to the list of connective tissue diseases that are associated with TGF-beta.

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