Single cell RNA-sequencing analysis of islets from NOD.SCID mice on chow and hydrolyzed casein diets

Protein source in diet greatly influences the incidence of type-1 diabetes (T1D) in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse colonies. NOD mice fed a diet containing hydrolyzed casein (HC) as the sole protein source are protected from T1D. Exposure to HC also reduced beta-cell insulin secretion during glucose challenge suggesting that beneficial changes to beta-cell physiology might protect NOD mice from T1D. We used single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) to contrast the transcriptional profiles of beta-cells and from the pancreatic islets of Langerhans of NOD mice with the scid mutation (scid mice were used to avoid confouding influence of infiltrating leukocytes) fed a 20% HC diet or a standard chow diet. Overall design: scRNAseq was performed on single cell suspensions from isolated pancreatic islets of Langerhans from 8-10 week old NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid/J mice fed either 20% HC standard chow diets. 3 chow fed mice and 2 HC fed mice were sequenced individually.