Proteomics in diabetes research

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus are heterogeneous diseases with alterations in many genes and their products. Not all transcriptional alterations lead to protein changes, which makes it very important to, in conjunction with mRNA expression studies, also address changes in cellular protein levels. Various proteomic techniques are available for measuring many protein changes simultaneously. Many proteomic studies have been performed in the context of diabetes research, with the aims of both describing the healthy tissue and to unravel the complex pathophysiology behind the disease. In addition, effects on proteins induced by different treatments have also been investigated using proteomic approaches. In this paper the field of diabetes proteomics today will be reviewed. Findings from proteomic studies investigating pancreatic islets and β-cells as well as serum, fat, skeletal muscle and liver are described.