Dear Editor： Coenzyme A （CoA） is a primary and predominant acyl group carrier involved in a wide variety of important biochemical processes. The CoA biosynthetic pathway is composed of five enzymatic steps, of which Pantothenate kinase （PanK） is a key regulatory enzyme. The multiple isoforms of PanK are encoded by four different genes [1,2]. In our previous studies of SNP markers by genotyping the case-controlled DNAs, we found that one SNP within the hPANK4 gene on chromosome 1 was associated with type 2 diabetes [3-5]. We subsequently showed that rat PanK4 （rPanK4） was up-regulated when rats were challenged by high concentration of glucose [6]. M2-type pyruvate kinase （Pkm2） was found, both in vitro and in vivo, to be associated with rPanK4 [7]. These data suggest that PanK4 may have a role in diabetes pathogenesis. The development of type 2 diabetes is due partly to the loss of the pancreatic β-cell mass, therefore the secreted amount of insulin is insufficient to maintain the glucose homoestasis [8]. In the present study, we evaluated the effect ofrPanK4 on β-cell apoptosis. We aimed to determine the potential ofrPanK4 gene in β-cell apoptosis induced by the cytotoxic agent streptozotocin （STZ）.
Ruo Lan XiangYan Li YangJin ZuoXin Hua XiaoYong Sheng ChangFu De Fang
