title: The pancreatic β-cell transcriptome and integrated-omics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  β Cells represent one of many cell types in heterogeneous pancreatic islets and play the central role in maintaining glucose homeostasis, such that disrupting β-cell function leads to diabetes. This review summarizes the methods for isolating and characterizing β cells, and describes integrated 'omics' approaches used to define the β cell by its transcriptome and proteome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry-based protein identification have now identified RNA and protein profiles for mouse and human pancreatic islets and β cells, and for β-cell lines. Recent publications have outlined these profiles and, more importantly, have begun to assign the presence or absence of specific genes and regulatory molecules to β-cell function and dysfunction. Overall, researchers have focused on understanding the pathophysiology of diabetes by connecting genome, transcriptome, proteome, and regulatory RNA profiles with findings from genome-wide association studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Studies employing these relatively new techniques promise to identify specific genes or regulatory RNAs with altered expression as β-cell function begins to deteriorate in the spiral toward the development of diabetes. The ultimate goal is to identify the potential therapeutic targets to prevent β-cell dysfunction and thereby better treat the individual with diabetes.
  http://links.lww.com/COE/A5.
authors: Diabetes Center of Excellence, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
authors: David M
authors: DM
authors: Blodgett
authors: Anthony J
authors: AJ
authors: Cura
authors: David M
authors: DM
authors: Harlan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009928:Organ Specificity; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D005947:Glucose