No evidence for linkage or for diabetes-associated mutations in the activin type 2B receptor gene (ACVR2B) in French patients with mature-onset diabetes of the young or type 2 diabetes
S. Dupont et al., No evidence for linkage or for diabetes-associated mutations in the activin type 2B receptor gene (ACVR2B) in French patients with mature-onset diabetes of the young or type 2 diabetes, DIABETES, 50(5), 2001, pp. 1219-1221
Activins are members of the transforming growth factor-a superfamily. They
have a wide range of biological effects on cell growth and differentiation.
For transmembrane signaling, activins bind directly to activin receptor ty
pe 2A (ACVR2A) or 2B (ACVR2B). Transgenic and knock-out mice for the ACVR2B
gene display various endocrine pancreas-related abnormalities, including i
slet hypoplasia and glucose intolerance, demonstrating the crucial role of
ACVR2B in the regulation of pancreas development, We have thus examined the
contribution of this factor to the development of mature-onset diabetes of
the young (MODY) and type 2 diabetes. No evidence of linkage at the ACVR2B
locus has been detected in MODY families with unknown etiology for diabete
s or found in affected sib pairs from families with type 2 diabetes. Mutati
on screening of the coding sequence in MODY probands and in a family with s
evere type 2 diabetes, including a case of pancreatic agenesis, showed sing
le nucleotide polymorphisms that did not cosegregate with MODY and were not
associated with type 2 diabetes. Our results indicate that ACVR2B does not
represent a common cause of either MODY or type 2 diabetes in the French C
aucasian population.