Karin Bosma
Covenant College
Richard O'Brien lab
Elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels have been associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) development and cardiovascular-associated mortality (CAM). Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified SNPs in G6PC2 associated with FBG. G6PC2 is an isoform of the glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit expressed in pancreatic islet beta cells. Deletion of G6pc2 in mice results in reduced FBG, consistent with the human GWAS data, and islets from these mice have enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) at sub-maximal glucose concentrations. I am using mouse models to explore the function of G6pc2 in islet beta cells and its potential as a therapeutic target for the prevention of T2D and CAM.