Spread of misfolded proteins could trigger type 2 diabetes

New research in mice raises the question of whether the disease is transmissible

deformed mouse pancreas proteins

GREEN GLOB-LINS Spurred by a dose of misfolded proteins, a 20-week-old mouse developed clumps of deformed proteins (green) in a cluster of cells called an islet (red) in its pancreas.

A. Mukherjee et al/J. Exper. Medicine 2017

Type 2 diabetes and prion disease seem like an odd couple, but they have something in common: clumps of misfolded, damaging proteins.