Scientists from King's College London and the University of Oxford have found that a gene linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol is a master trans regulator, which controls other genes found within fat in the body.

In a study published in Nature Genetics on May 15, scientist stated that since fat plays a critical role susceptibility obesity, heart disease and diabetes, the gene could be target for drugs to treat those illnesses.

"This is the first major study that shows how small changes in one master regulator gene can cause a cascade of other metabolic effects in other genes," said Tim Spector of King's College London, who led the study.

Scientists have already known that the KLF14 gene is linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels but, until now, they did not know the role that it played in controlling other genes.

The researchers examined over 20,000 genes in fat samples from 800 UK female twin volunteers. They found a link between the KLF14 gene and the expression levels of multiple distant genes found in fat tissue, which means it acts as a master switch to control these genes. The results were confirmed in a further independent sample of 600 subcutaneous fat biopsies from Icelandic subjects
According to the findings, the other genes found to be controlled by KLF14 are linked to a range of metabolic traits, including body mass index, cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels.

"KLF14 seems to act as a master switch controlling processes that connect changes in the behavior of subcutaneous fat to disturbances in muscle and liver that contribute to diabetes and other conditions," said Mark McCarthy from Britain's Oxford University, who also worked on the study.

"We are working hard...to understand these processes and how we can use this information to improve treatment of these conditions."