To identify novel genetic modifiers of type 2 diabetes (T2D), we performed quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis on F
2 progeny of hypoinsulinemic diabetic Akita mice, heterozygous for the
Ins2 gene Cys96Tyr mutation, and nondiabetic A/J mice. We generated 625 heterozygous (F
2-Hetero) and 338 wild-type (F
2-Wild) mice with regard to the
Ins2 mutation in F
2 intercross progeny. We measured quantitative traits, including plasma glucose and insulin concentrations during the intraperitoneal
glucose tolerance test (IPGTT), and body weight (BW). We observed three significant QTLs in hypoinsulinemic hyperglycemic
male F
2-Hetero mice, designated
Dbm1,
Dbm3, and
Dbm4 on Chromosomes 6, 14, and 15, respectively. They showed linkage to plasma glucose concentrations, with significant maximum
logarithm of odds (LOD) scores of 4.12, 4.17, and 6.17, respectively, all exceeding threshold values by permutation tests.
In normoinsulinemic normoglycemic male F
2-Wild mice,
Dbm1 on Chromosome 6 showed linkage to both plasma insulin concentrations and BW, and
Dbm2 on Chromosome 11 showed linkage to plasma glucose concentrations only, with LOD scores of 4.52 and 6.32, and 5.78, respectively.
Based on these results, we concluded that
Dbm1,
Dbm2,
Dbm3, and
Dbm4 represent four major modifier QTLs specifically affecting T2D-related traits and that these diabetic modifier QTLs are conditional
on the heterozygous
Ins2 gene mutation and sex to exert their modifier functions. Identification of the genes responsible for these QTLs would provide
new drug development targets for human T2D.