The key gene causing diabetes and obesity has been calculated

The maternal secret of diabetes
Grigory Domovoy, Moscow NewsThe story about the work of scientists from the UK and Switzerland should begin with a phrase that was coined by the famous popularizer of genetics Matt Ridley in the book "Genome" – genes are not needed to cause diseases.

The KLF14 gene, to which the recent  an article in the journal Nature Genetics is no exception. Everyone has this gene, regardless of blood glucose levels, body weight and other factors. But its activity varies from person to person, and in diabetes or obesity it is higher – the protein that encodes this gene is synthesized more in patients. However, the activity level of many other genes responsible for the production of many other proteins is also increased in the same way.

The study described in Nature Genetics (Small et al., Identification of an imprinted master trans regulator at the KLF14 locus related to multiple metabolic phenotypes) involved 17 scientists and three scientific consortia. The knowledge that KLF14 is more active in diseases did not give anything special in itself – it was one of many genes that in some way (in most cases unknown to biologists and doctors) is associated with metabolic disorders. All studies, including the results of the analysis of subcutaneous fat samples from 800 volunteers, showed that dozens of different genes should have at least one "main gene", changes in the level of activity (or expression, if you follow the scientific terminology) of which affect all the others.

An additional analysis of the samples and another 600 samples taken in another country (from Icelanders instead of the British, in order to exclude any local anomalies) made it possible to find out that KLF14 plays a key role. This, according to one of the lead authors of the study, Timothy Spector, can significantly help in the search for new medicines. Instead of "hitting the squares", pharmacologists will be able to focus on correcting those biochemical reactions that are associated with the protein encoded by the KLF14 gene.

But it's still not worth waiting for an absolute cure. Geneticists know that KLF14 has an interesting feature – the level of its activity is entirely determined by inheritance on the maternal line. The child receives one copy of this gene from the mother and another from the father, but the paternal one turns out to be inactive (nevertheless, doctors have long confirmed the inheritance of diabetes from the father). The authors of the new study themselves believe that they have revealed an important, but not the only secret of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Recall that type 2 diabetes, unlike the first, is associated with the inability of cells to absorb insulin. Without insulin, cells cannot process glucose, so, on the one hand, they lack energy, and on the other hand, excess glucose in the blood begins to disrupt the work of vital organs. Diabetes of this type is most common and the risk of the disease is higher in people with increased body weight.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru19.05.2011