Diabetes genes

A study published today in Nature Genetics has identified nine new candidate genes associated with diabetes. These genes play a role in the expression and movement of GLUT4, a key glucose transporter in muscle and fat cells that is responsible for glucose uptake after a meal.
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The research suggests that these genes affect the amount of GLUT4 found on the cell surface, which influences the cell's ability to remove glucose from the blood.

Genetic susceptibility to diabetes has been a subject of intensive study for nearly five decades. 

 Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is believed to be triggered by an initial event followed by autoimmune destruction of pancreatic cells. The risk for monozygotic twins of patients with type 1A diabetes has been known to not be 100%. The strongest genetic predictor of T1D risk is the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) association, particularly the genes in the HLA class I and class II regions (known since the 1970s). Recent studies have also found specific Class I variants associated with T1D and latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) in the Chinese population.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with various complications, and there is a strong genetic component to the risk of developing these complications. Variants in genes such as CAT, FTO, and UCP1 have been linked to complications like diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy.

In addition to these findings, previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several other genes associated with T2D, including Adam30, Adamts9, Camk1d, Cdc123, Cdkal1, Cdkn2a, Cdkn2b, Ext2, Hhex, Ide, Jazf1, Lgr5, Thada, and Tspan8.

These discoveries expand our understanding of the genetic factors contributing to diabetes and pave the way for further research and potential advancements in diabetes prevention and treatment.


REFERENCES

Williamson, A et al. Genome-wide association study and functional characterisation identifies candidate genes for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Nat Gen; 8 June 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41588-023-01408-9

Concannon P, Rich SS, Nepom GT. Genetics of type 1A diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2009 Apr 16;360(16):1646-54.

Noble JA, Erlich HA. Genetics of type 1 diabetes. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine. 2012 Jan 1;2(1):a007732.

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