News & Research
Scientists Map Out Regulatory Regions of Genome, Hot Spots for Diabetes Genes
Using pancreatic islet cells, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have generated a map of areas of the genome that control which genes are turned off or on. These findings could help understand the genetic basis of common diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
Researchers used a new method called FAIRE-seq to sequence 80,000 open chromatin sites within the islet cells, comparing the sites to those in non-islet cells. With the comparison, they narrowed the number to 3,300 clusters of sites, with each cluster encompassing single genes that are active specifically in islet cells.
Of these genes, about 20 are known to have variants associated with type 2 diabetes. The researchers then targeted a single nucleotide polymorphism occurring in the TCF7L2 gene that is most strongly associated with type 2 diabetes.
They concluded that the chromatin is more open in the presence of the high-risk gene version than the non-risk version, and that the risk variant enhances the activity of the gene, possibly contributing to type 2 diabetes. This research is published online in Nature Genetics.
(c) Copyright 2010 Information, Inc.
Newswise (02/02/10)
The information contained in this article does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the American Diabetes Association.
(c) Copyright 2010 Information, Inc.
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