ArticleMolecular metabolism2026
Heterogeneous expression patterns of the T2D-associated kinesin-4 KIF21A in pancreatic islet endocrine cells.
Article in Molecular metabolism, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe β cells in the pancreatic endocrine islets preferentially secrete insulin in specific subdomains of the plasma membrane adjacent to the vasculature (i.e., hot spots). Impaired insulin secretion and β -cell dysfunction are central features of Type-2 Diabetes, yet the cytoskeletal machinery that supports directional secretion and secretory hot spots remains incompletely defined. KIF21A is a plus-end-directed kinesin-4 motor protein that anchors microtubule plus ends to the cell cortex. However, the role of KIF21A in pancreatic islet endocrine cells and potential link to type 2 diabetes (T2D) remain unexplored.
methodsKIF21A mRNA and protein levels were analyzed using bulk RNA-seq and single-cell RNA-seq data using proteomics databases. Kif21a protein distribution was assessed by immunofluorescence in isolated mouse islets using super-resolution microscopy. Likewise, immunostaining of insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, laminin, and detyrosinated tubulin is also performed.
resultsWe show that KIF21A is downregulated in T2D human islets at both the mRNA (RNA-seq) and protein (quantitative proteomics) levels. We also demonstrate cell-type-specific enrichment of Kif21a protein (δ > α > β) in intact islets, confirming the hierarchy suggested by single-cell transcriptomics. We also show that within each endocrine lineage, Kif21a protein shows pronounced cell-to-cell heterogeneity, consistent with endocrine sub-states and functional specialization. And most importantly, we show that implicating Kif21a is spatially enriched at the rosettes and laminin-rich interfaces at vasculature-oriented secretion sites (hot spots), where microtubule anchoring is expected to shape targeted granule delivery.
conclusionsKIF21A is a T2D-associated gene with cell-type-specific and heterogeneous expression in islet endocrine cells. KIF21A may have a cortical microtubule-anchoring function and may contribute to the directed granule delivery to the vasculature for regulated hormone secretion.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.