Islet β‐cells physiological difference study of old and young mice based on single‐cell transcriptomics

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: Body aging is a universal biological process. With aging, cells undergo a series of physiological changes. The main feature is cell proliferation decline, although the cells still have normal functions. Pancreatic β‐cells are no exception. However, the physiological senescence of β‐cells, and the resulting function and transcriptome changes have rarely attracted attention. The specific senescence phenotype of β‐cells remains unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pancreatic samples from three female C57BL/6 mice with aged 2.5 months (young) mice and 20 months (old) were digested to a single‐cell suspension and analyzed, with 10× Genomics single‐cell ribonucleic acid sequencing, β‐cells were determined by biosynthesis analysis, and differences between old and young mice were identified. RESULTS: A total of 47 differential genes with significant and statistical significance were screened in β‐cells (fold change >1.5, P < 0.05). In old mice, 27 genes were upregulated and 20 genes were downregulated. Genes Mt1, Mt2, Pyy, Gcg and Pnlip, and mitochondrial genes mt‐Nd1, mt‐Nd3, mt‐Co1, mt‐Co2 and mt‐Co3 were found to be involved in cellular senescence. Transcription factors Jund and Fos were important regulators of senescence. CONCLUSIONS: An overall difference was found between the pancreatic β‐cells of old and young mice. Transcription factors facilitate transitions between pancreatic β‐cells. These findings are worthy of deep exploration, and provide new resources and directions for the research of pancreatic aging in mice.