Candidate genes mediated by estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERRγ) in pancreatic β cells

Recent studies have established the importance of ERRγ as a required participant for insulin secretion in pancreatic β cells. Key downstream genes of ERRγ remain unclear in the pancreatic β cell. To understand the molecular role of ERRγ and elucidate potential key candidate genes involved in pancreatic β cells, the eukaryotic expression plasmid containing mouse ERRγ was constructed and transfected into NIT-1 pancreatic β cells. Overexpression of ERRγ was confirmed by Q-RT-PCR and western blot. RNA-seq was conducted to get the gene expression profiling between the experimental cells and control cells. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and subsequently analyzed by gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. We found that overexpression of ERRγ in pancreatic β cells enables regulation of the expression of certain genes involved in cell apoptosis and mitochondrial function, such as TFPT, Bcl7c, Dap, Thoc6, Ube2d3, ATP5H, MPV17, and NDUFA6. GO analysis revealed that the DEGs were mainly enriched in biological regulation, cell, and binding. KEGG pathway analysis demonstrated that DEGs were significantly enriched in infectious diseases, translation annd signal transduction. This study helps to further understand and reposition the molecular mechanisms of ERRγ in pancreatic β cells. Examination the molecular role of ERRγ and elucidate potential key candidate genes involved in pancreatic β cells,