Mechanisms by which common variants in the TCF7L2 gene increase risk of type 2 diabetes

Genetic variants in the gene encoding for transcription factor-7-like 2 (TCF7L2) have been associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and impaired beta cell function, but the mechanisms have remained unknown. We therefore studied prospectively the ability of common variants in TCF7L2 to predict future T2D and explored the mechanisms by which they would do this. Scandinavian subjects followed for up to 22 years were genotyped for 3 SNPs (rs7903146, rs12255372, and rs10885406) in TCF7L2, and a subset of them underwent extensive metabolic studies. Expression of TCF7L2 was related to genotype and metabolic parameters in human islets. The CT/TT genotypes of SNP rs7903146 strongly predicted future T2D in 2 independent…

• P
  Pfizer
• FT
  Folkhälsanin Tutkimussäätiö
• EC
  European Commission

  Award: LSHM-CT-2006-518153
• EF
  European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes
• CS
  Crafoordska Stiftelsen
• NN
  Novo Nordisk
• V
  Vetenskapsrådet
• SF
  Samfundet Folkhälsan