Diabetes affects over 30 million Americans and 185,000 Utahn’s. Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are characterized by decreased functional β-cell mass and insulin production. Diabetes also results in increased circulating glucose and fatty acid levels, which damage and destroy β-cells over time. Our study will shed further light on the effects of palmitate, the most commonly made fatty acid in the liver, on hyperlipidemia. In this study we test the specific effects of chronic palmitate exposure on various cell lines acclimated to 0.15 mM, 0.3 mM, and 0.5 mM concentrations of palmitate. We demonstrate the effects of progressive long-term exposure to palmitate on β-cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis. We demonstrate mechanistic changes that result in the observed phenotypes. Our goal in this study is to explore how β-cells adapt to exposure to hyperlipidemia, and to define interventions to protect β-cells from the harmful effects of hyperlipidemia.
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