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Figure 7
Tg(βmiR-21) mouse islets display decreases in markers of β-cell identity. For all experiments, tamoxifen-treated Tg(βmiR-21) mice were compared to tamoxifen-treated Tg(CAG-Z-miR-21) mice and tamoxifen-treated Ins1tm1(CreERT2)Thor mice. Transcript levels of markers essential for β-cell identity were measured by RT-PCR (A). Decreased (B) MafA and (C) Pdx1 expression was quantified in nuclei of Insulin+ cells in Tg(βmiR-21) islets. (D) Decreased expression of Glut2 and Pcsk1 (E) were also observed in Tg(βmiR-21) islets. Levels of Aldh1a3 were increased in Tg(βmiR-21) mice as compared to littermate controls (F). Decreased expression of Tgfb2 (G) and Smad2 (H) were seen in insulin+ cells in Tg(βmiR-21) islets. (I) Immunofluorescence quantification is displayed as mean ± SEM for littermate controls and Tg(βmiR-21) mice, respectively. Immunofluorescence intensity was quantified for 3 islets per mouse for n = 3–4 mice per group; ∗p < 0.05.