K cells: a novel target for insulin gene therapy for the prevention of diabetes

Recently, gut K cells have been shown to express glucokinase,the glucose se nsor of pancreatic beta cells, and transgenic mice expressing human insulin under the control of a K cell-specific promoter are resistant to diabetes development induced by the beta -cell toxin streptozotocin. These novel fin dings suggest that gut K cells might be a suitable target for gene therapeu tic treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus.