Scientists from Cambridge University have discovered four rare mutations of a gene associated with type 1 diabetes that apparently reduce the risk of developing the condition.
Their findings, published in the journal Science Express, suggest a link between type 1 and the enterovirus, a common virus that is usually non-symptomatic.
DRWF awarded Dr Nejentsev from Cambridge a clinical fellowship back in 2005 for his work on the mapping of novel type 1 diabetes genes in the major histocompatibility complex.
The work conducted by Dr Nejentsev in light of the original DRWF grant helped pave the way for his work involving genetic prediction of type 1 diabetes.
The new study examines the IFIH1 gene, which plays a role in the body’s antiviral responses. Importantly, it is also located in the region of the human genome associated with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder which results in the body attacking its own insulin-producing pancreatic cells.
It is within this gene that scientists have identified four gene variants that protect against type 1.
Nejentsev and colleagues conducted the study at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Wellcome Trust Diabetes and Inflammation Laboratory.
They studied 10 candidate genes associated with type 1 diabetes and then genotyped approximately 30,000 individuals who were either patients with type 1, controls or family members. From this they proved that four rare variants or versions that reside in the gene IFIH1 reduce the risk of developing the condition.
The result establishes that the IFIH1 protein is involved in type 1, highlighting a molecular pathway by which enterovirus infections may contribute to the development of the disease.
Professor John Todd, senior author on the study, said: “We have been able to pin-point one particular gene among a long list of candidates. Now we and others can begin to study the biology of IFIH1 in the context of type 1 diabetes knowing that it is part of the cause of the disease.”