DDIT3 and diabetes mellitus: Furthermore, during the development of DM in Akita mice, overexpression of the ER-stress-related proteins BIP (endoplasmic reticulum chaperone BIP; alias GRP78) and DDIT3 (DNA damage-inducible transcript 3 protein; alias CHOP10/GADD153) was observed, and targeted disruption of the Ddit3 gene delayed the onset of DM, confirming the participation of ER stress in beta cell damage [44].