Transcription profiling by array of pancreatic islets from pregnant mice

During pregnancy, pancreatic islets undergo structural and functional changes that lead to enhance insulin release in response to increased insulin demand, which is rapidly reversed at parturition. One of the most important changes is expansion of pancreatic beta-cell mass mainly by increased proliferation of beta-cells. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression and identified distinct up- or down-regulated genes during pregnancy. Maternal islet were isolated from mice at dpc 0 and 12.5 dpc of pregnancy for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. We sought to identify the responsible factors for the proliferation of islets during pregnancy.妊娠期间，胰腺胰岛会发生结构与功能层面的适应性改变，以响应机体升高的胰岛素需求并增强胰岛素分泌，该适应性变化在分娩后会迅速恢复至妊娠前的基线水平。其中最为关键的变化之一，便是胰腺β细胞团块的扩张，这一过程主要依赖于β细胞增殖活性的提升。我们借助基因芯片（microarrays）对全局基因表达程序进行了详尽解析，并鉴定出了妊娠期间显著差异表达的上调及下调基因。我们从妊娠第0天（dpc 0，days post coitum）及第12.5天（dpc 12.5）的小鼠体内分离母体胰岛，用于RNA提取，并在Affymetrix基因芯片上完成杂交实验。本研究旨在明确妊娠期间胰岛增殖的关键调控因子。