Molecular approaches to study control of glucose homeostasis

Type 2 diabetes is a polygenic disease that can lead to severe complications in multiple tissues. Rodent models have been used widely for investigating the pathophysiology underlying type 2 diabetes and for examining the potential link with obesity, largely due to the limitations of invasive testing and of studying detailed molecular mechanisms in human tissues. Among rodents, the mouse model is especially popular because mice are easy to manipulate genetically, have a short generation time, and are relatively inexpensive. The most commonly used inbred mouse strains are reviewed in addition to several genetically engineered mouse models that have been generated to study type 2 diabetes in the context of obesity, with a focus on insulin, leptin, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathways.