HNF-4α: from MODY to late-onset type 2 diabetes

Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a rare subtype of type 2 diabetes that is characterized by autosomal-dominant inheritance and can be caused by mutations in hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF-4α). Odom and colleagues have combined chromatin immunoprecipitation with promoter microarrays to identify numerous promoters occupied by HNF-4α in the human liver and islet, suggesting a very broad role for HNF-4α in glucose homeostasis. This notion is supported by recent genetic studies linking HNF-4α to the much more common late-onset type 2 diabetes.