We were able to show that ZMIZ1 expression is localized to the endocrine pancreas (ruling out the possibility that the eQTL signal emanated from contaminating exocrine tissue), and that perturbation of ZMIZ1 within the islet has a marked effect on exocytosis and insulin secretion, data that are clearly consistent with the designation of this gene as the likely mediator of the T2D association signal at this locus. Here, ZMIZ1 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.