mRNA Processing: An Emerging Frontier in the Regulation of Pancreatic β Cell Function

• Main Authors: Nicole D. Moss, Lori Sussel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-09-01
• Series: Frontiers in Genetics
• Subjects: pancreatic islet; beta cells; diabetes; RNA processing; RNA binding proteins
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fgene.2020.00983/full

Robust endocrine cell function, particularly β cell function, is required to maintain blood glucose homeostasis. Diabetes can result from the loss or dysfunction of β cells. Despite decades of clinical and basic research, the precise regulation of β cell function and pathogenesis in diabetes remains incompletely understood. In this review, we highlight RNA processing of mRNAs as a rapidly emerging mechanism regulating β cell function and survival. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and RNA modifications are primed to be the next frontier to explain many of the poorly understood molecular processes that regulate β cell formation and function, and provide an exciting potential for the development of novel therapeutics. Here we outline the current understanding of β cell specific functions of several characterized RBPs, alternative splicing events, and transcriptome wide changes in RNA methylation. We also highlight several RBPs that are dysregulated in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and discuss remaining knowledge gaps in the field.