This locus was tightly linked to the gene encoding Insm1, a beta cell transcription factor that was highly expressed in human insulinomas but unexpressed in other types of PanNETs due to promoter hypermethylation.
Insulinoma-associated-1 (IA-1 or INSM1) encodes a zinc-finger transcription factor, which was isolated from a human insulinoma subtraction library, with specific expression patterns, predominantly in developing neuroendocrine tissues and tumors.
INSM1 promoter-driven conditionally replicating adenoviruses may serve as a new tool for the treatment of insulinoma and may provide clinicians with additional options to combat this disease.