FIG. 1.

Tissue-specific metabolic actions of TCF7L2. While significant attention has been directed toward TCF7L2’s effects in pancreatic β-cells, this transcription factor is highly expressed in multiple organs and tissues involved in glucose metabolism. The physiological roles of TCF7L2 in these tissues remain incompletely defined and may uncover additional mechanisms by which genetic variants in the TCF7L2 locus are associated with increased risk to T2D. In this issue of Diabetes, Shao et al. (13) describe how TCF7L2 expression in the brain intersects with aspects of the central regulation of glucose metabolism. GCG, glucagon gene.