Determining interferon gamma and insulin signalling cross-talk in insulin producing cells

Inflammation and insulin resistance are characteristics of Type-2 Diabetes (T2D). It is known that cytokines, namely interferon gamma (IFNγ) can cause insulin resistance in adipocytes. However, the effect of IFNγ on insulin signalling in pancreatic beta-cell remains unknown. We hypothesize that IFNγ interferes with insulin signalling in beta cells. To test our hypothesis, changes in protein phosphorylation and gene expression of insulin downstream targets were determined after treating MIN6 cells with IFNγ. Our results shows that for Akt and FoxO1 phosphorylation, IFNγ may not interfere with insulin signalling in beta cells. Further work is necessary to investigate the link between inflammation and insulin resistance in beta cells. Using other pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β) or a cocktail of cytokines, reflecting the T2D inflammatory milieu, might alter insulin signalling in beta cells.Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science