Reflections on the state of diabetes research and prospects for treatment.
Domenico Accili, Wen Du, Takumi Kitamoto, Taiyi Kuo, Wendy McKimpson, Yasutaka Miyachi, Maria Mukhanova, Jinsook Son, Liheng Wang, Hitoshi Watanabe
Author Information
Domenico Accili: Department of Medicine and Berrie Diabetes Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA. ORCID
Wen Du: Department of Medicine and Berrie Diabetes Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA.
Takumi Kitamoto: Department of Endocrinology, Hematology and Gerontology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Chiba 260-8670 Japan.
Taiyi Kuo: Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616 USA.
Wendy McKimpson: Department of Medicine and Berrie Diabetes Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA.
Yasutaka Miyachi: Department of Medicine and Bioregulatory Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Japan.
Maria Mukhanova: Department of Medicine and Berrie Diabetes Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA.
Jinsook Son: Department of Medicine and Berrie Diabetes Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA.
Liheng Wang: Department of Medicine and Berrie Diabetes Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA.
Hitoshi Watanabe: Department of Medicine and Berrie Diabetes Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA.
Research on the etiology and treatment of diabetes has made substantial progress. As a result, several new classes of anti-diabetic drugs have been introduced in clinical practice. Nonetheless, the number of patients achieving glycemic control targets has not increased for the past 20 years. Two areas of unmet medical need are the restoration of insulin sensitivity and the reversal of pancreatic beta cell failure. In this review, we integrate research advances in transcriptional regulation of insulin action and pathophysiology of beta cell dedifferentiation with their potential impact on prospects of a durable "cure" for patients suffering from type 2 diabetes.
