Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals a Role for Reactive Oxygen Species and Peroxiredoxins in Fatty Acid-Induced Rat β-Cell Proliferation.

The functional mass of insulin-secreting pancreatic β-cells expands to maintain glucose homeostasis in the face of nutrient excess, in part via replication of existing β-cells. Type 2 diabetes appears when these compensatory mechanisms fail. Nutrients including glucose and fatty acids are important contributors to the β-cell compensatory response, but their underlying mechanisms of action remain poorly understood.

Very-Long-Chain Unsaturated Sphingolipids Mediate Oleate-Induced Rat β-Cell Proliferation.

Fatty acid (FA) signaling contributes to β-cell mass expansion in response to nutrient excess, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In the presence of elevated glucose, FA metabolism is shifted toward synthesis of complex lipids, including sphingolipids. Here, we tested the hypothesis that sphingolipids are involved in the β-cell proliferative response to FA.