Fig. 6: Inducible deletion of β-cell Kindlin-2 in adult mice leads to diabetes-like phenotypes.

a Tamoxifen (TM) injection. b IHC. Three-month-old male K2^f/f; MIPCreERT and control (MIP-CreERT) mice were treated with TM as described in a. After 30 days, pancreatic sections were stained with antibodies against Kindlin-2 or MafA. Scale bar, 50 μm. c GTT. Mice were treated with TM as described in a. Thirty days after the TM injection, mice were fasted overnight, and GTT assays were performed. *P < 0.05, versus control, N = 10 for control, N = 7 for K2^f/f; MIPCreERT, Student’s t test. d Glucose stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). Mice were treated with TM as in a. After 37 days, mice were fasted overnight, and GSIS assays were performed. *P < 0.05, versus control, N = 6 for both genotypes, Student’s t test. e Insulin tolerance test (ITT). Mice were treated with TM as in a. After 44 days, mice were fasted for 6–7 h, and ITT assays were performed. N = 5 for control, N = 4 for K2^f/f; MIPCreERT. f, g β-Cell area/pancreatic area ratio and β-cell mass. Mice were treated as in a. After 30 days, pancreatic sections were subjected to IHC staining for insulin, followed by measurements of β-cell area/pancreatic area ratio (f) and β-cell mass (g). *P < 0.05, versus control, N = 3 per genotype. h Cell apoptosis. Mice were treated with TM as in a. After 30 days, pancreatic sections were subjected to insulin and TUNEL staining. Around 300–500 β-cells (insulin-positive cells) per mouse were counted. N = 7 mice per group. *P < 0.05, versus control, Student’s t test. i Cell proliferation. Mice were treated with TM as in a. After 30 days, pancreatic sections were double stained with antibodies against insulin and Ki67. Ki67-positive cells in islets were normalized to total insulin-positive cells in the same area (i). Around 300–500 β-cells per mouse were counted. N = 8 per genotype. Results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Source data for c–i are provided as a Source Data file.