[Glucokinase gene abnormalities in maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) and late-onset NIDDM].

Glucokinase is a key enzyme of glucose metabolism that phosphorylates glucose to glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P). This is the first step of glucose metabolism after the uptake of glucose by glucose transporter 2 (GLUT 2). Glucokinase is one of the hexo-kinases and is expressed only in pancreatic beta cells and hepatocytes. Recently it was reported that glucokinase gene is associated with some families with MODY (maturity-onset diabetes of the young). As MODY is a subtype of diabetes which is inherited autosomal dominantly, the correlation of diabetes with glucokinase gene was vigorously studied in many laboratories. The first mutation in exon 7 of the glucokinase gene was reported in 1992. Since the first report of the glucokinase gene mutation in exon 7, a number of mutations and a deletion were reported to be associated with MODY or late-onset NIDDM. But investigations by many groups revealed that glucokinase gene abnormalities are responsible for less than one per cent of NIDDM which is relatively small compared with diabetes with mitochondrial gene alterations.