Expression profile of GATA6 deficient pancreatic islets

GATA6 mutations have been linked to adult-onset diabetes with subclinical or no exocrine insufficiency suggesting an important role for GATA6 in humanβcell physiology. To investigate the role of GATA6 in adult endocrine pancreas, we generated mice in which Gata6 is specifically inactivated in the pancreas. These mice develop glucose intolerance. Islets deficient in GATA6 activity display decreased insulin content and impaired glucose-induced insulin secretion. Gata6-deficient ß cells exhibit ultrastructural abnormalities including increased immature insulin granules, swollen mitochondria and disorganized endoplasmic reticulum. Microarray analysis revealed that loss of GATA6 greatly impacts ß cell specific gene expression. Expression profile of GATA6 deficient islets and control islets were studied using Gene Chip Mouse Gene 2.0 ST Three samples of control islets and four samples of Gata6 KO islets were used in this study to compare the gene expression profile using Gene Chip mouse. Each sample contain pooled islets from three mice of two month of age.