Aaron Leifer; Jasmine Banner; Collin Christensen; Trevor Lloyd; Kenneth Call, Brigham Young University
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are characterized by a lack of pancreatic β cells that produce adequate amounts of insulin as well as the body’s loss of sensitivity to insulin. This chronic condition that increases the risk of stroke, blindness, heart attack, and kidney failure, affects over 30 million Americans and 422 million people worldwide. Islet transplantation, which could be a viable intervention for diabetic patients is impractical, as it requires β cells from as many as three cadaver donors to transplant to one recipient. However, this issue could be solved if β cells could be induced to proliferate ex vivo prior to transplantation. Previous studies have identified the transcription factor KLF14 as being a expressed during the highest point of human β cell proliferation and being necessary for eventual Pdx1 gene expression which is necessary for eventual β cell maturation. We have taken a closer look at the effect of transcription factor KLF14 on proliferation, survival, and insulin secretion to better understand its role in pancreatic β cells and determining its usefulness in inducing cell proliferation ex vivo in preparation for transplantation. We present data demonstrating the effects of KLF14 overexpression in mature β cells on cell proliferation, survival, and insulin secretion.