SREBP-1c might be a major factor responsible for beta-cell lipotoxicity, and SREBP-1c knockdown could protect INS-1E cells from lipotoxicity, which is implicating a therapeutic potential for treating diabetes related to lipotoxicity.
Taken together with enhanced insulin secretion from SREBP-1-null islets, these data suggest that SREBP-1c and endogenous lipogenesis could be involved in beta-cell dysfunction and diabetes.
Although the rare mutations identified were functionally silent in the assays used, we obtained some evidence, which requires conformation in other populations, that a common variant in the SREBP-1c gene might influence diabetes risk and plasma cholesterol level.