Yuting Lu, Junyu Xu, Yufeng Li, Ruoran Wang, Chengqiu Dai, Bingqian Zhang, Xinwen Zhang, Lei Xu, Yunhua Tao, Ming Han, Ren Guo, Qingqian Wu, Linshi Wu, Zhuoxian Meng, Minjia Tan, Jingya Li
Impeded autophagy can impair pancreatic β cell function by causing apoptosis, of which DAP-related apoptosis-inducing kinase-2 (DRAK2) is a critical regulator. Here, we identified a marked up-regulation of DRAK2 in pancreatic tissue across humans, macaques, and mice with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Further studies in mice showed that conditional knockout (cKO) of DRAK2 in pancreatic β cells protected β cell function against high-fat diet feeding along with sustained autophagy and mitochondrial function...
February 7, 2024: Science Translational Medicine