Additionally, Akerman’s group demonstrated that concomitant downregulation of lncRNA PLUTO and PDX1 (encoding a key β cell transcription factor) can be observed in islets from donors with T2DM or impaired glucose tolerance, and PLUTO knockdown reduced the contact between upstream enhancers and the PDX1 promoter [58], suggesting that PLUTO affects local 3D chromatin structure and consequently transcription of PDX1. This evidence concerns the gene PDX1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.