Presentation description

Type 2 diabetes is distinguished by insulin resistance. partial insulinopenia, & lipotoxicity, which yields way to high blood sugar and excess fat accumulation. As a consequence, several lipid metabolites including sphingolipids are increased and most importantly, long-chain ceramides, which are causal agents for insulin resistance and steatosis. A diversity outbred panel of mice were screened to find transcripts that were quantitative trait loci for type 2 diabetes. It is suspected that lipid-metabolizing genes could be related to ceramide metabolism or lipid accumulation in the cells. A subset of these genes were overexpressed in an in-vitro model to discern which ones influenced ceramide levels, and to further characterize this relatively unknown subset.