Individuals with a mutation in the gene encoding a zinc transporter, SLC30A8 have an elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Insulin granules that are released from pancreatic β cells contain high levels of zinc; however, it is not clear why individuals with mutations in the SLC30A8 zinc transporter gene are predisposed to type 2 diabetes.
In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation , Yoshio Fujitani and colleagues at Juntendo University investigated the role of zinc transport by SLC30A8 in β cells. They found that this zinc transporter is required for insulin clearance by the liver and secreted zinc signals to β cells to stop releasing insulin.
In the accompanying commentary, Alan Attie and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discuss the dynamic regulatory role of zinc in insulin regulation.
TITLE: The diabetes-susceptible gene SLC30A8/ZnT8 regulates hepatic insulin clearance
AUTHOR CONTACT: Yoshio Fujitani
Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, , JPN
Phone: 81-3-5802-1579; E-mail: fujitani@juntendo.ac.jp
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/68807?key=c328bd5acca78929b0ab
ACCOMPANYING COMMENTARY
TITLE: Zinc, insulin, and the liver: a ménage à trois
AUTHOR CONTACT: Alan Attie
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Phone: 608-262-1372; E-mail: attie@biochem.wisc.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/72325?key=8c16085ee64c1191f081
Journal of Clinical Investigation