Epigenetics of diabetes Type 2 have shown that miRNAs have pivotal roles in many different gene regulatory pathways. A subset of miRNAs has been shown to be involved in metabolic regulation of glucose homeostasis and in epigenetics of diabetes type 2. Pancreatic islet-specific miR-375 inhibits insulin secretion in mouse pancreatic β-cells by inhibiting the expression of the protein myotrophin. An overexpression of miR-375 can completely suppress glucose-induced insulin secretion, while inhibition of native miR-375 will increase insulin secretion. In another study, increasing the level of miR-9, a different miRNA, resulted in a severe defect in glucose-stimulated insulin release. This happens because miR-9 down-regulated the transcription
Epigenetics of diabetes Type 2 secretion. PGC-1α can modulate glucose-mediated insulin secretion in human islets, most likely through an effect on ATP production. In human type 2 diabetic islets, reduced PPARGC1A mRNA levels were associated with impaired glucose-mediated insulin secretion. It was suggested that DNA methylation was the mechanism through which the PPARGC1A gene was turned down. In a different study where transcriptional changes due to a risk factors for diabetes, were examined, changes in the methylation patterns of the PPARGC1A gene were also found. In the study done on physical inactivity, where subjects were required to have a sustained bed-rest of 10 days and