NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A variant of SUMO4, a newly identified gene with immune-regulating properties, is associated with type 1 diabetes, according to a new report. The finding should help “to better predict who will get the disease and design new intervention strategies for those who do,” co-author Dr. Jin-Xiong She said in a statement.
The gene was identified in the IDDM5 locus that has previously been linked to diabetes susceptibility in independent family sets, the researchers note in the July 11th advance online issue of Nature Genetics. The SUMO4 variant linked to diabetes involved the substitution of guanine for adenine at a key domain.
SUMO4 was found to be a negative regulator of NF kappa-B transcriptional activity. In the presence of the SUMO4 variant, however, NF kappa-B transcriptional activity was greatly increased, as was expression of IL12B, an NF kappa-B-dependent gene.
“Many genes are involved in type 1 diabetes, but this is one of the most important ones,” Dr. She, from the Medical College of Georgia in Atlanta, noted. “This is the first time we have used a systematic approach to find the gene and it’s the first gene in which we know how it contributes to the disease.”
Source: Nat Genet 2004. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Polymorphism, Single NucleotideCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
