Production of a mouse strain with impaired glucose tolerance by systemic heterozygous knockout of the glucokinase gene and its feasibility as a prediabetes model.

Exon II of glucokinase (Gk) was deleted to produce a systemic heterozygous Gk knockout (Gk(+/-)) mouse. The relative expression levels of Gk in the heart, lung, liver, stomach, and pancreas in Gk(+/-) mice ranged from 0.41-0.