Identification of Key Genes and Pathways Involved in Compensatory Pancreatic Beta Cell Hyperplasia During Insulin Resistance

Abstract

Restoration of pancreatic beta cell mass is anticipated as beneficial treatment for both types of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) (I & II). Previously, compensatory increase of pancreatic beta cell mass has been observed in various insulin resistance conditions. Investigation of regulatory mechanism behind the pancreatic beta cell hyperplasia through the liver derived growth factors have profound implications in treatment of DM. Therefore, this study is conducted with a specific aim to identify the key regulatory elements and pathways involved in the compensatory increase of pancreatic beta cells during insulin resistance in liver. For this purpose, three transcriptomics datasets of different insulin resistant mouse models (S961 induced, high fat diet induced and db/db) are analyzed in this study. Common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and significantly altered pathways in these datasets are obtained. These genes and pathways represent the key elements of the gene regulatory circuit involved in compensatory pancreatic beta cell hyperplasia during insulin resistance. These findings have increased our current knowledge regarding the genes and gene circuits involved collectively in different insulin resistance conditions.