Promoter polymorphism in PCK1 (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene) associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus

We sequenced the promoter and coding regions of PCK1 encoding cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase from genomic DNA of subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). We found nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were present with varying allele frequencies and pairwise linkage disequilibrium relationships in different ethnic groups. The -232C-->G promoter SNP was within a cis-acting element required for basal and cAMP-mediated PCK1 gene transcription. The expression of a luciferase reporter construct containing -232G in three different cell lines showed significantly increased basal expression with no down-regulation by insulin compared with a construct containing -232C. The odds ratios for type 2 DM among subjects with one or two copies of -232G compared with -232C/C homozygotes were 1.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.2-3.0) in a Canadian aboriginal sample and 2.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.7-4.7) in a Caucasian sample. Thus, we report a promoter SNP in PCK1 that was resistant to down-regulation by insulin in vitro and was associated with type 2 DM in two independent study samples.