Lessons from single-cell RNA sequencing of human islets – published online 28/04/2022

Mtaki Ngara, Nils Wierup

Islet dysfunction is a key component of type 2 diabetes but due to the complex cell composition of the islets it has not been easy to understand how each of the five islet cell types is affected by or contributes to disease development. In this issue Ngara and Wierup (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-022-05699-1) summarise recent advances in islet biology enabled by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq). The authors discuss how scRNAseq has generated unprecedented insight into important aspects of islet biology, foremost by uncovering cell-type-specific gene expression in all islet cell populations. The technique has also proven highly useful in the stem cell and development fields. When it comes to identifying type 2 diabetes disease mechanisms, we have not yet seen a major breakthrough. However, the authors conclude that advances in computational methods in combination with larger studies will most likely lead to a leap forward in this area within the near future. The figure from this review is available as a downloadable slide.

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