RAGE could be the common ground between diabetes and brain cancer

Excerpt:

By Shawn Le

The germ of the idea came to neurosurgeon Behnam Badie, M.D., over a meal with diabetes expert Samuel Rahbar, M.D., Ph.D.

“We would meet for lunch and I would ask about his career and research,” Badie said. “I learned a lot during those talks, especially about his discovery of hemoglobin A1c.”

Hemoglobin is the molecule that carries oxygen in red blood cells. Hemoglobin A1c is a special type of hemoglobin that has a form of sugar attached to it. “It is the standard risk measurement for complications in people with diabetes,” explained Badie, chief of the Division of Neurosurgery and director of the Brain Tumor Program.

Photo of Benham BadieNeurosurgeon and brain cancer researcher Benham Badie in the operating room. (©2005 Philip Channing)
Why would a neurosurgeon find diabetes research so fascinating? Because it might have implications for Badie’s own patients.

Their talks delved deeper into molecules studied by Rahbar, professor in the Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Research. These substances are called advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

In people with diabetes, too much sugar circulates and accumulates in the blood. AGEs form when this extra sugar binds to proteins and other molecules in the body.

These AGEs lie behind a lot of the complications of diabetes. AGEs can connect with receptors for advance glycation end products, or RAGE, much like a key fitting into a lock. This connection triggers inflammation and leads to conditions such as the deadening of nerve sensation and vision loss.

When other molecules activate RAGE, it can lead to other serious health conditions such as the narrowing of arteries, congestive heart failure and Alzheimer’s disease.

And, as it turns out, RAGE happens to be active around glioma, a brain cancer.