Figure 1.

Pancreatic β-cell dedifferentiation in type 2 diabetes mellitus. High glucose and lipids induce inflammation, oxidative stress, and endoplasmic stress, which in turn leads to β-cell dysfunction through β-cell dedifferentiation. MicroRNAs and long non-coding RNAs induce β-cell dedifferentiation through various mechanisms: (1) recruitment of epigenetic modifiers, (2) regulation of transcriptional and post-transcriptional stages, (3) control of mRNA degradation. Loss of β-cell function and mass is a major hallmark of the development of type 2 diabetes.