The role of the beta cell in type 2 diabetes: new findings from the last 5 years – Published online 06/08/2025

Belinda Yau, Julien Ghislain, Melkam A. Kebede, Jing Hughes & Vincent Poitout

In recent years, there have been remarkable developments in our understanding of the role of the beta cell in the early pathogenesis, progression and remission of type 2 diabetes. In this issue, Yau and Ghislain et al (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-025-06499-z) summarise these findings, drawing on studies from the last 5 years on human genetics and human islet biology and pathophysiology with a particular emphasis on multi-omics methodologies, the links between type 2 diabetes risk variants and gene regulatory networks, as well as clinical studies of novel incretin mimetics for diabetes treatment. The authors discuss how these studies collectively support the notion that in type 2 diabetes, beta cell dysfunction is a key early pathogenic event and emphasise the role of intra-islet and inter-organ crosstalk, microRNA and beta cell heterogeneity in disease progression. Conversely, improvements in beta cell function are associated with type 2 diabetes remission, underscoring the potential for weight loss or metabolic interventions to restore glucose homeostasis. The figure from this review is available as a downloadable slide.

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