The continued prevalence of diabetes mellitus imposes detrimental outcomes for millions across the world and contributes to put strain on health services. It is for such reasons that continued work into the understanding of the key components in the disease pathogenesis remains important. A central component in glucose homeostasis are pancreatic beta cells which function to secrete insulin. An understanding of the genes and their expression is critical to understanding how beta cells function. Similarly uncovering the genetic and molecular mechanisms contributing to beta cell loss and dysfunction is hoped to better our understanding of the pathogenesis of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In addition to defining the candidate genes it is pertinent to understand their expression, how they are regulated and how their modulation maybe associated with different outcomes in diabetes patients. Through this insight it may elucidate better treatment strategies to combat the disease progression.
Therefore, through this topic the gene expression underpinning the beta cell function will be explored. To this end, genetic and epigenetic factors associated with dysfunction will be considered as well as the role of other key modulators and molecular mechanism in gene regulation.
In this Research Topic, we aim to gather manuscripts that contribute to the new findings on the gene expression and regulation of beta cells for diabetes research. We welcome submissions in the form of original research and reviews focusing but not limited to:
• Genomic strategies to identify gene variants associated with beta cell insulin dysregulation
• Deletion and gene modification studies including the use of CRISPR/Cas9
• The role of long non-coding RNAs as gene modulators in cell function
• Transcriptomics and research into transcript processing including alternative splicing
The continued prevalence of diabetes mellitus imposes detrimental outcomes for millions across the world and contributes to put strain on health services. It is for such reasons that continued work into the understanding of the key components in the disease pathogenesis remains important. A central component in glucose homeostasis are pancreatic beta cells which function to secrete insulin. An understanding of the genes and their expression is critical to understanding how beta cells function. Similarly uncovering the genetic and molecular mechanisms contributing to beta cell loss and dysfunction is hoped to better our understanding of the pathogenesis of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In addition to defining the candidate genes it is pertinent to understand their expression, how they are regulated and how their modulation maybe associated with different outcomes in diabetes patients. Through this insight it may elucidate better treatment strategies to combat the disease progression.
Therefore, through this topic the gene expression underpinning the beta cell function will be explored. To this end, genetic and epigenetic factors associated with dysfunction will be considered as well as the role of other key modulators and molecular mechanism in gene regulation.
In this Research Topic, we aim to gather manuscripts that contribute to the new findings on the gene expression and regulation of beta cells for diabetes research. We welcome submissions in the form of original research and reviews focusing but not limited to:
• Genomic strategies to identify gene variants associated with beta cell insulin dysregulation
• Deletion and gene modification studies including the use of CRISPR/Cas9
• The role of long non-coding RNAs as gene modulators in cell function
• Transcriptomics and research into transcript processing including alternative splicing
