Transcriptome landmarks of the functional maturity of rat beta cells, from lactation to adulthood.
Research on the postnatal development of pancreatic beta cells has become an important subject in recent years. Understanding the mechanisms that govern beta cell postnatal maturation could bring new opportunities to therapeutic approaches for diabetes. The weaning period consists of a critical postnatal window for structural and physiologic maturation of rat beta cells. To investigate transcriptome changes involved in the maturation of beta cells neighboring this period, we performed microarray analysis in fluorescence activated cell sorted (FACS) beta cell enriched populations. Our results showed a variety of gene sets including those involved in the integration of metabolism, modulation of electrical activity, and regulation of the cell cycle that play important roles in the maturation process. These observations were validated using reverse hemolytic plaque assay, electrophysiological recordings, and flow cytometry analysis. Moreover, we suggest some unexplored pathways such as sphingolipid metabolism, insulin vesicle trafficking, regulation of transcription/transduction by miRNA 30, trafficking proteins, and cell cycle proteins that could play important roles in the process mentioned above for further investigation.
Journal of molecular endocrinology