News & Views |
Featured
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Research Briefing |
Genetic risk variants lead to type 2 diabetes development through different pathways
The largest genome-wide association study for type 2 diabetes so far, which included several ancestry groups, led to the identification of eight clusters of genetic risk variants. The clusters capture different biological pathways that contribute to the disease, and some clusters are associated with vascular complications.
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News |
Diabetes drug slows development of Parkinson’s disease
The drug, which is in the same family as blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy, slowed development of symptoms by a small but statistically significant amount.
- David Adam
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Spotlight |
Stealthy stem cells to treat disease
Gene-editing strategies that allow stem cells to evade the immune system offer hope for universal cell-replacement therapies.
- Elie Dolgin
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Article
| Open Access
Genetic drivers of heterogeneity in type 2 diabetes pathophysiology
A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D) identifies more than 600 T2D-associated loci; integrating physiological trait and single-cell chromatin accessibility data at these loci sheds light on heterogeneity within the T2D phenotype.
- Ken Suzuki
- , Konstantinos Hatzikotoulas
- & Eleftheria Zeggini
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Research Briefing |
What makes people with diabetes more susceptible to serious lung infections?
Diabetes is a strong risk factor for viral respiratory infections, including influenza and COVID-19, which can be particularly dangerous for people with the condition. The discovery that the metabolism of lung dendritic cells, key sentinels of the immune system, is disrupted by high blood-sugar levels could provide a route to reversing this susceptibility.
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Article |
Genetic risk converges on regulatory networks mediating early type 2 diabetes
Integration of multiomics data with functional analysis of pancreatic tissues from individuals with early-stage type 2 diabetes indicates that the genetic risk converges on RFX6, which regulates chromatin architecture at multiple risk loci.
- John T. Walker
- , Diane C. Saunders
- & Marcela Brissova
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News & Views |
Diabetes prevention programme put to the test
Causal evidence shows that referring people who are at risk of developing diabetes to a nationwide lifestyle-change programme can result in health improvements — but only if programme participation can be sustained.
- Edward W. Gregg
- & Naomi Holman
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Nature Podcast |
How to 3D print fully formed robots
Printing multi-material objects in a single run, and the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for preventing type 2 diabetes.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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Nature Podcast |
Massive study assesses benefits of lifestyle changes on diabetes risk
A large diabetes prevention programme in the UK is put to the test, with promising results.
- Benjamin Thompson
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News |
Giant UK programme to lower people’s blood-sugar levels really works
One of the world’s biggest campaigns to prevent diabetes through behaviour change holds promise for public-health gains.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article |
Quasi-experimental evaluation of a nationwide diabetes prevention programme
Analysis of the largest behaviour change programme for prediabetes globally provides causal evidence that lifestyle advice and counselling implemented at scale can improve key cardiovascular risk factors.
- Julia M. Lemp
- , Christian Bommer
- & Pascal Geldsetzer
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News Feature |
A DIY ‘bionic pancreas’ is changing diabetes care — what's next?
A community of people with type 1 diabetes got a self-built device approved. What can they offer that big companies can’t?
- Liam Drew
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News |
Experimental insulin implant uses electricity to control genes
Human cells that have been engineered to respond to an electrical current could be incorporated into future medical devices.
- Lilly Tozer
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News |
As COVID-19 cases rose, so did diabetes — no one knows why
The spike in childhood type 1 diabetes opened new avenues for researchers to explore the cause of the disease.
- Clare Watson
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Article
| Open Access
GDF15 promotes weight loss by enhancing energy expenditure in muscle
GDF15 treatment in mice counteracts compensatory reductions in energy expenditure, resulting in greater weight loss and reductions in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease compared to caloric restriction alone.
- Dongdong Wang
- , Logan K. Townsend
- & Gregory R. Steinberg
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News |
Beyond Ozempic: brand-new obesity drugs will be cheaper and more effective
Hormone mimics offer advantages even beyond those of the potent weight-loss jabs on the market now.
- Saima Sidik
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Spotlight |
Mapping the Chinese microbiome: it’s time for a united effort
Much has been done to investigate the human microbiome. Now, it’s time for countries to dig deeper.
- Ju-Sheng Zheng
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Outlook |
Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in diabetic kidney disease
Diabetes is on the rise globally, mostly in low- and middle-income countries and among minority ethnic groups in wealthier nations. This increase is behind a surge in chronic kidney disease.
- Charles Schmidt
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Outlook |
SGLT2 inhibitors breathe life into kidney-disease care
Researchers want to expand the use of drugs that protect the hearts and kidneys of people with chronic kidney disease.
- Amanda B. Keener
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News |
Diabetes and obesity are rising globally — but some nations are hit harder
Rates of type 2 diabetes and other conditions caused by disorders of the body’s energy-processing system are driven in part by changing food habits.
- Saima May Sidik
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News Feature |
How a pioneering diabetes drug offers hope for preventing autoimmune disorders
The approval of an antibody therapy that pauses the progression of type 1 diabetes is a first in the field, and some say a model for other drug developers.
- Elie Dolgin
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News & Views |
Serine deficiency causes complications in diabetes
Impaired sensory-nerve function is a common complication of diabetes. Evidence in mice indicates that deficiency of the amino acid serine causes these complications — and suggests that supplements could help to treat them.
- Thorsten Hornemann
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News & Views |
From the archive: statistical marvels, and the quest for insulin
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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Correspondence |
Africa needs more bioinformaticians for population studies
- Ashraf Akintayo Akintola
- , Ui Wook Hwang
- & Abdullahi Tunde Aborode
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News & Views |
Maternal enzyme reprograms paternal DNA for healthy offspring
It emerges that high blood sugar deregulates the enzyme TET3 in the eggs of female mice, preventing it from properly modifying sperm-derived DNA when eggs are fertilized. This leads to metabolic defects in adult progeny.
- Yumiko K. Kawamura
- & Antoine H. F. M. Peters
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Research Highlight |
The metrics that predict the course of type 2 diabetes
Factors such as body mass index and blood pressure offer clues to the most likely health problems down the road.
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News |
Diabetes risk rises after COVID, massive study finds
Even mild SARS-CoV-2 infections can amplify a person’s chance of developing diabetes, especially for those already susceptible to the disease.
- Clare Watson
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Research Highlight |
Cold treatment for insulin-making cells points to diabetes cure
Protocol for freezing structures called beta islets allows them to be safely stored for months at a stretch.
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News & Views |
A subset of immune-system T cells branded as seeds for type 1 diabetes
The identification of a specific subpopulation of immune-system T cells that drives type 1 diabetes provides insight into the development of autoimmune disease, and could point the way to new therapies.
- Stephen J. Turner
- & Nicole L. La Gruta
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Article |
A hormone complex of FABP4 and nucleoside kinases regulates islet function
Hormonal FABP4 is discovered to be a pivotal regulator of an adipose–beta-cell endocrine axis that coordinates energy status and metabolic organ function, and targeting this axis improved metabolic outcomes.
- Kacey J. Prentice
- , Jani Saksi
- & Gökhan S. Hotamisligil
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Article |
Structural basis of inhibition of the human SGLT2–MAP17 glucose transporter
Using cryogenic electron microscopy, the structure of the human SGLT2–MAP17 complex captured in the empagliflozin-bound state reveals the inhibitory mechanism of these anti-diabetic drugs.
- Yange Niu
- , Rui Liu
- & Lei Chen
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Outlook |
Homing in on an oral link to inflammatory disease
The immunological effects of untreated gum disease can amplify risk of a range of disorders — but could also create opportunities for intervention.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Outlook |
How stem cells could fix type 1 diabetes
Trials to replace the pancreatic β cells that are destroyed by this autoimmune disease are raising hopes of a cure.
- Liam Drew
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Article |
Interpreting type 1 diabetes risk with genetics and single-cell epigenomics
A genome-wide association study combined with single-cell epigenomics identifies risk loci for type 1 diabetes.
- Joshua Chiou
- , Ryan J. Geusz
- & Kyle J. Gaulton
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Correspondence |
COVID-19: build on Belgium’s psychosocial findings
- Elke Van Hoof
- & Nele Van den Cruyce
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Article |
REV-ERB in GABAergic neurons controls diurnal hepatic insulin sensitivity
REV-ERB in GABAergic neurons orchestrates the rhythmic sensitivity of hepatic glucose production to insulin-mediated suppression that peaks at wakening, with implications in the extended dawn phenomenon.
- Guolian Ding
- , Xin Li
- & Zheng Sun
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News & Views |
New-found brake calibrates insulin action in β-cells
Insulin is produced by pancreatic β-cells. The identification of a regulator of insulin signalling in these cells cements the long-standing idea that this pathway has a key role in β-cell biology.
- Rohit N. Kulkarni
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Article |
Inceptor counteracts insulin signalling in β-cells to control glycaemia
The insulin inhibitory receptor (inceptor) is identified as a negative regulator of insulin and IGF1 signalling that could be targeted for β-cell regeneration in treatments for diabetes.
- Ansarullah
- , Chirag Jain
- & Heiko Lickert
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Article |
RANK links thymic regulatory T cells to fetal loss and gestational diabetes in pregnancy
RANK promotes the hormone-mediated development of thymic regulatory T cells during pregnancy; loss of RANK is associated with impaired maturation of maternal regulatory T cells, leading to fetal loss and the development of gestational diabetes.
- Magdalena Paolino
- , Rubina Koglgruber
- & Josef M. Penninger
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Career Column |
How managing a chronic illness gave me skills that would strengthen my PhD
A childhood diagnosis of type 1 diabetes taught Olivia Favor about the importance of meticulous record-keeping and other skills that proved useful in the lab.
- Olivia Favor
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Article |
Immune-evasive human islet-like organoids ameliorate diabetes
Metabolically-mature human islet-like organoids generated from induced pluripotent stem cells are able to recapitulate insulin-responsive pancreatic islet function and avoid immunologic cell death in diabetic mouse transplantation models.
- Eiji Yoshihara
- , Carolyn O’Connor
- & Ronald M. Evans
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Outlook |
Gene therapy could offer an inclusive cure for cystic fibrosis
After three decades of false starts, gene therapy against the disease is in new clinical trials — and there is even hope of a cure.
- Roxanne Khamsi
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Outlook |
EraCal Therapeutics: a new drug candidate for obesity
The start-up that developed the compound is a finalist for The Spinoff Prize.
- Elie Dolgin
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Outlook |
Forkhead BioTherapeutics: developing a diabetes pill
The drug, which could restart insulin production in people with the disease, is made by one of the finalists of The Spinoff Prize.
- Eric Bender
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News |
Mounting clues suggest the coronavirus might trigger diabetes
Evidence from tissue studies and some people with COVID-19 shows that the virus damages insulin-producing cells.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Article |
Identification of type 2 diabetes loci in 433,540 East Asian individuals
A meta-analysis of genome-wide association study data from 77,418 individuals of East Asian ancestry with type 2 diabetes identifies novel variants associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Cassandra N. Spracklen
- , Momoko Horikoshi
- & Xueling Sim
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Article |
Glucagon stimulates gluconeogenesis by INSP3R1-mediated hepatic lipolysis
A role and mechanism of action are identified for INSP3R1 in the stimulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis and mitochondrial oxidation by glucagon, suggesting that INSP3R1 may be a target for ameliorating dysregulation of hepatic glucose metabolism.
- Rachel J. Perry
- , Dongyan Zhang
- & Gerald I. Shulman
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Career Column |
How I find career motivation in my father’s diabetes
Natalie Brown explains how her father’s childhood diagnosis has inspired her to research the condition as an undergraduate.
- Natalie Kay Brown
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Review Article |
The integrative biology of type 2 diabetes
A Review of studies into insulin resistance and hepatic gluconeogenesis associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
- Michael Roden
- & Gerald I. Shulman
Cells destroy donated mitochondria to build blood vessels