Given that acetylated GKRP may affiliate with type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), understanding the mechanism of GKRP acetylation in the liver could reveal novel targets within the GK-GKRP pathway, for treating T2DM and other metabolic pathologies.
DNA mutations were previously identified in the glucokinase gene in 56% of French families affected with maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY), an early onset autosomal dominant form of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM).
A case-control design comprising 884 type 2 diabetic patients and 513 control subjects living in the East-Center of Tunisia was used to analyze the contribution to T2D of the following SNPs: E23K in KCNJ11/Kir6.2, K121Q in ENPP1, the -30G/A variant in the pancreatic beta-cell specific promoter of Glucokinase, rs7903146 in TCF7L2 encoding transcription factor 7-like2, and rs7923837 in HHEX encoding the homeobox, hematopoietically expressed transcription factor.
Polymorphisms in the glucokinase-associated, dual-specificity phosphatase 12 (DUSP12) gene under chromosome 1q21 linkage peak are associated with type 2 diabetes.
Together, we identified that ethanol-induced Atf3 fosters β-cell dysfunction via Gck down-regulation and that its loss ameliorates metabolic syndrome and could be a potential therapeutic target in treating type 2 diabetes.
Glucokinase plays an important role in the regulation of insulin secretion and is therefore an attractive candidate gene for both insulin dependent (IDDM) and non-insulin-dependent (NIDDM) diabetes mellitus.
Adult-onset, or type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has a complex genetic architecture, from hundreds of genes with low penetrance, common susceptibility variants (e.g., TCF7L2), to a set of more than ten genes that, when mutated, can cause a single-gene or Mendelian form of T2DM (e.g., GCK).
Mutations in the hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1alpha and glucokinase (GCK) genes are the major causes of monogenic forms of Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus (Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young subtypes, MODY).
The ghrelin levels were higher in HNF1A-MODY and GCK-MODY than in T1DM and T2DM (p < 0.001 for all comparisons) but lower than in non-diabetic controls (1.02 ± 0.29 ng/ml, p < 0.001 for both comparisons).
Cystatin C levels were lower (p < 0.001) in the control (0.70 ± 0.13 mg/L), HNF1A (0.75 ± 0.21), and GCK (0.72 ± 0.16 mg/L) groups in comparison to those with either T1DM (0.87 ± 0.15 mg/L) or T2DM (0.9 ± 0.23 mg/L).
Characterization of Japanese families with early-onset type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus and screening for mutations in the glucokinase and mitochondrial tRNA(Leu(UUR)) genes.
Nonetheless, linkage studies were consistent with the hypothesis that mutations of the glucokinase gene were responsible for the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes in a minority of pedigrees or one gene in a polygenic disorder.