Fig. 4: Induction of α-cell-enriched genes in euglycemic βRapKO^GFP.

a α-Cell-enriched genes and β-cell-enriched genes were subjected to perform principle component analysis based on the dataset from Qiu et al.³¹. b Venn diagram representation of the subsets of Raptor-regulated genes that were enriched in α-cells. c Heatmap showed the differential expression of 57 overlapped genes in 8-week-old WT, diabetic βRapKO^GFP, and euglycemic βRapKO^GFP β-cells (n = 3-4). d Relative expression of genes involved in cell identity by qRT-PCR (n = 5 independent sample for WT, n = 5 independent sample for diabetic βRapKO^GFP, n = 4 independent sample for euglycemic βRapKO^GFP, p values included in source data). e Representative immunofluorescent staining for GFP (red) and glucagon (green) among 8-week-old WT, diabetic βRapKO^GFP, and euglycemic βRapKO^GFP mice (n = 4 for WT, n = 4 for diabetic βRapKO^GFP, n = 3 for euglycemic βRapKO^GFP). The yellow arrows indicated glucagon and GFP co-stained cells. Percentage of Gcg⁺GFP⁺ cells among GFP⁺ cells in WT, diabetic βRapKO^GFP, and euglycemic βRapKO^GFP mice was determined (n = 4 independent sample for WT, n = 4 independent sample for diabetic βRapKO^GFP, n = 3 independent sample for euglycemic βRapKO^GFP, WT vs diabetic βRapKO^GFP: p = 0.007; diabetic βRapKO^GFP vs euglycemic βRapKO^GFP: p = 0.012; WT vs euglycemic βRapKO^GFP: p = 0.009). At least 50 islets were used for quantifications. Scale bars, 20 μm. f Representative immunofluorescent staining for ALDH1A3 (red) and insulin (green) among 8-week-old WT, diabetic βRapKO^GFP, and euglycemic βRapKO^GFP mice (n = 3). Insets showed different expression levels of ALDH1A3. Percentage of ALDH1A3⁺Ins⁺ cells among Ins⁺ cells in WT, diabetic βRapKO^GFP, and euglycemic βRapKO^GFP mice was calculated (n = 3, WT vs diabetic βRapKO^GFP: p < 0.001; diabetic βRapKO^GFP vs euglycemic βRapKO^GFP: p = 0.628; WT vs euglycemic βRapKO^GFP: p < 0.001). For ALDH1A3 quantification, at least 36 islets were used. Scale bars, 20 μm. Data represent means ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 by one-way ANOVA.