Project description:Boundaries between monogenic and complex genetic diseases are becoming increasingly blurred, as a result of better understanding of phenotypes and their genetic determinants. This had a large impact on the way complex disease genetics is now being investigated. Starting with conventional approaches like familial linkage, positional cloning and candidate genes strategies, the scope of complex disease genetics has grown exponentially with scientific and technological advances in recent times. Despite identification of multiple loci harboring common and rare variants associated with complex diseases, interpreting and evaluating their functional role has proven to be difficult. Information from monogenic diseases, especially related to the intermediate traits associated with complex diseases comes handy. The significant overlap between traits and phenotypes of monogenic diseases with related complex diseases provides a platform to understand the disease biology better. In this review, we would discuss about one such complex disease, type 2 diabetes, which shares marked similarity of intermediate traits with different forms of monogenic diabetes.
Project description:The precision medicine approach of tailoring treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient or subgroup has been a great success in monogenic diabetes subtypes, MODY and neonatal diabetes. This review examines what has led to the success of a precision medicine approach in monogenic diabetes (precision diabetes) and outlines possible implications for type 2 diabetes. For monogenic diabetes, the molecular genetics can define discrete aetiological subtypes that have profound implications on diabetes treatment and can predict future development of associated clinical features, allowing early preventative or supportive treatment. In contrast, type 2 diabetes has overlapping polygenic susceptibility and underlying aetiologies, making it difficult to define discrete clinical subtypes with a dramatic implication for treatment. The implementation of precision medicine in neonatal diabetes was simple and rapid as it was based on single clinical criteria (diagnosed <6 months of age). In contrast, in MODY it was more complex and slow because of the lack of single criteria to identify patients, but it was greatly assisted by the development of a diagnostic probability calculator and associated smartphone app. Experience in monogenic diabetes suggests that successful adoption of a precision diabetes approach in type 2 diabetes will require simple, quick, easily accessible stratification that is based on a combination of routine clinical data, rather than relying on newer technologies. Analysing existing clinical data from routine clinical practice and trials may provide early success for precision medicine in type 2 diabetes.
Project description:Type 1 diabetes (T1D) has a multifactorial autoimmune etiology, involving environmental prompts and polygenic predisposition. We hypothesized that pancreata from individuals with and at risk for T1D would exhibit dysregulated expression of genes associated with monogenic forms of diabetes caused by nonredundant single-gene mutations. Using a "monogenetic transcriptomic strategy," we measured the expression of these genes in human T1D, autoantibody-positive (autoantibody+), and control pancreas tissues with real-time quantitative PCR in accordance with the Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiments (MIQE) guidelines. Gene and protein expression was visualized in situ with use of immunofluorescence, RNAscope, and confocal microscopy. Two dozen monogenic diabetes genes showed altered expression in human pancreata from individuals with T1D versus unaffected control subjects. Six of these genes also saw dysregulation in pancreata from autoantibody+ individuals at increased risk for T1D. As a subset of these genes are related to cellular stress responses, we measured integrated stress response (ISR) genes and identified 20 with altered expression in T1D pancreata, including three of the four eIF2α-dependent kinases. Equally intriguing, we observed significant repression of the three arms of the ISR in autoantibody+ pancreata. Collectively, these efforts suggest monogenic diabetes and ISR genes are dysregulated early in the T1D disease process and likely contribute to the disorder's pathogenesis.
Project description:HypothesisAbout 1% of patients clinically diagnosed as type 1 diabetes have non-autoimmune monogenic diabetes. The distinction has important therapeutic implications but, given the low prevalence and high cost of testing, selecting patients to test is important. We tested the hypothesis that low genetic risk for type 1 diabetes can substantially contribute to this selection.MethodsAs proof of principle, we examined by exome sequencing families with 2 or more children, recruited by the Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium (T1DGC) and selected for negativity for 2 autoantibodies and absence of risk human leukocyte antigen haplotypes.ResultsWe examined 46 families that met the criteria. Of the 17 with an affected parent, 7 (41.2%) had actionable monogenic variants. Of 29 families with no affected parent, 14 (48.3%) had such variants, including 5 with recessive pathogenic variants of WFS1 but no report of other features of Wolfram syndrome. Our approach diagnosed 55.8% of the estimated number of monogenic families in the entire T1DGC cohort, by sequencing only 11.1% of the autoantibody-negative ones.ConclusionsOur findings justify proceeding to large-scale prospective screening studies using markers of autoimmunity, even in the absence of an affected parent. We also confirm that nonsyndromic WFS1 variants are common among cases of monogenic diabetes misdiagnosed as type 1 diabetes.
Project description:Diabetes, a disease characterized by hyperglycemia, has a serious impact on the lives and families of patients as well as on society. Diabetes is a group of highly heterogeneous metabolic diseases that can be classified as type 1 diabetes (T1D), type 2 diabetes (T2D), gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), or other according to the etiology. The clinical manifestations are more or less similar among the different types of diabetes, and each type is highly heterogeneous due to different pathogenic factors. Therefore, distinguishing between various types of diabetes and defining their subtypes are major challenges hindering the precise treatment of the disease. T2D is the main type of diabetes in humans as well as the most heterogeneous. Fortunately, some studies have shown that variants of certain genes involved in monogenic diabetes also increase the risk of T2D. We hope this finding will enable breakthroughs regarding the pathogenesis of T2D and facilitate personalized treatment of the disease by exploring the function of the signal genes involved. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 homeobox A (HNF1α) is widely expressed in pancreatic β cells, the liver, the intestines, and other organs. HNF1α is highly polymorphic, but lacks a mutation hot spot. Mutations can be found at any site of the gene. Some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) cause maturity-onset diabetes of the young type 3 (MODY3) while some others do not cause MODY3 but increase the susceptibility to T2D or GDM. The phenotypes of MODY3 caused by different SNPs also differ. MODY3 is among the most common types of MODY, which is a form of monogenic diabetes mellitus caused by a single gene mutation. Both T2D and GDM are multifactorial diseases caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Different types of diabetes mellitus have different clinical phenotypes and treatments. This review focuses on HNF1α gene polymorphisms, HNF1A-MODY3, HNF1A-associated T2D and GDM, and the related pathogenesis and treatment methods. We hope this review will provide a valuable reference for the precise and individualized treatment of diabetes caused by abnormal HNF1α by summarizing the clinical heterogeneity of blood glucose abnormalities caused by HNF1α mutation.
Project description:Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex disease in which both genetic and environmental factors interact in determining impaired β-cell insulin secretion and peripheral insulin resistance. Insulin resistance in muscle, liver and fat is a prominent feature of most patients with T2DM and obesity, resulting in a reduced response of these tissues to insulin. Considerable evidence has been accumulated to indicate that heredity is a major determinant of insulin resistance and T2DM. It is believed that, among individuals destined to develop T2DM, hyperinsulinemia is the mechanism by which the pancreatic β-cell initially compensates for deteriorating peripheral insulin sensitivity, thus ensuring normal glucose tolerance. Most of these people will develop T2DM when β-cells fail to compensate. Despite the progress achieved in this field in recent years, the genetic causes of insulin resistance and T2DM remain elusive. Candidate gene association, linkage and genome-wide association studies have highlighted the role of genetic factors in the development of T2DM. Using these strategies, a large number of variants have been identified in many of these genes, most of which may influence both hepatic and peripheral insulin resistance, adipogenesis and β-cell mass and function. Recently, a new gene has been identified by our research group, the HMGA1 gene, whose loss of function can greatly raise the risk of developing T2DM in humans and mice. Functional genetic variants of the HMGA1 gene have been associated with insulin resistance syndromes among white Europeans, Chinese individuals and Americans of Hispanic ancestry. These findings may represent new ways to improve or even prevent T2DM.
Project description:Numerous studies have shown that oxidative stress resulting from an imbalance between the production of free radicals and their neutralization by antioxidant enzymes is one of the major pathological disorders underlying the development and progression of type 2 diabetes (T2D). The present review summarizes the current state of the art advances in understanding the role of abnormal redox homeostasis in the molecular mechanisms of T2D and provides comprehensive information on the characteristics and biological functions of antioxidant and oxidative enzymes, as well as discusses genetic studies conducted so far in order to investigate the contribution of polymorphisms in genes encoding redox state-regulating enzymes to the disease pathogenesis.
Project description:Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). The major form of diabetes mellitus is type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), which is thus largely responsible for the CHD association in the general population. Recent years have seen major advances in the genetics of T2D, principally through ever-increasing large-scale genome-wide association studies. This article addresses the question of whether this expanding knowledge of the genomics of T2D provides insight into the etiologic relationship between T2D and CHD. We will investigate this relationship by reviewing the evidence for shared genetic loci between T2D and CHD; by examining the formal testing of this interaction (Mendelian randomization studies assessing whether T2D is causal for CHD); and then turn to the implications of this genetic relationship for therapies for CHD, for therapies for T2D, and for therapies that affect both. In conclusion, the growing knowledge of the genetic relationship between T2D and CHD is beginning to provide the promise for improved prevention and treatment of both disorders.
Project description:With rapidly increasing prevalence, diabetes has become one of the major causes of mortality worldwide. According to the latest studies, genetic information makes substantial contributions towards the prediction of diabetes risk and individualized antidiabetic treatment. To date, approximately 70 susceptibility genes have been identified as being associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) at a genome-wide significant level (P < 5 × 10(-8)). However, all the genetic loci identified so far account for only about 10% of the overall heritability of T2D. In addition, how these novel susceptibility loci correlate with the pathophysiology of the disease remains largely unknown. This review covers the major genetic studies on the risk of T2D based on ethnicity and briefly discusses the potential mechanisms and clinical utility of the genetic information underlying T2D.