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Biological Chemistry

New-Age Diabetes Drugs

December 3, 2007 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 85, Issue 49

Significantly limiting food intake delays aging in many types of organisms, in part by activating analogs of the mammalian SIRT1 protein, which affects insulin sensitivity. But it would be hard for most people to stick to such a restricted diet. Researchers at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Mass.; the University of California, San Diego; and Harvard Medical School have now developed a more palatable method—small-molecule drugs—that could achieve the same goal. By screening a large collection of compounds, the researchers identified several candidate molecules, including the one shown, that are the most potent known activators of SIRT1 (Nature 2007, 450, 712). Studies in mice and rats show that the molecules "offer a promising new approach to treating diseases of aging, including type 2 diabetes," the company says. Human safety testing will begin in 2008. "This is the first time that small-molecule drugs have been designed to target aging genes," notes Sirtris CEO Christoph H. Westphal.

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