In osteo/odontogenic differentiation assay using the cultured DPCs from T2DM and the controls, odontoblast-specific genes, Alpl, Dmp1, Osx, and Runx2 were significantly decreased in T2DM DPC compared to control DPC, whereas gene expression of Klf4 and Nes was not altered (Figure 5D,D’). Here, NES is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.