Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts of more than 200 nucleotides that have not coding potential, but act as gene expression regulators through several molecular mechanisms. Several studies have identified tons of lncRNAs that are expressed in pancreatic β cells and many of them have been shown to have β cell-specific expression, suggesting a potential role in the regulation of basal β cell functions. Indeed, accumulating evidence based on numerous studies, has highlighted the implication of lncRNAs in the regulation of pancreatic β cell differentiation and proliferation, insulin synthesis and secretion, and apoptosis.

In addition, several lncRNAs have shown to be implicated in pancreatic β cell dysfunction linked to different types of diabetes, including type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and monogenic forms of the disease. Pathogenic conditions linked to diabetes (inflammation or lipoglucotoxicity, for example) dysregulate the expression of several lncRNAs, suggesting that changes in lncRNA may alter potentially important pathways for β cell function, and eventually leading to β cell dysfunction and diabetes development. In this sense, functional characterization of some lncRNAs has demonstrated that these non-coding molecules participate in the regulation of several crucial pathways at the pancreatic β cell level, and dysregulation of these pathways leads to pathogenic phenotypes.

In this review, we provide an overview of the action mechanisms of functionally characterized lncRNAs in healthy β cells and describe the contribution of some diabetes-associated lncRNAs to pancreatic β cell failure.

长链非编码 RNA (lncRNA) 是 200 多个核苷酸的转录本，它们不具有编码潜力，但通过多种分子机制充当基因表达调节剂。几项研究已经确定了大量在胰腺 β 细胞中表达的 lncRNA，其中许多已被证明具有 β 细胞特异性表达，这表明在调节基础 β 细胞功能中具有潜在作用。事实上，基于大量研究积累的证据已经强调了 lncRNA 在调节胰腺 β 细胞分化和增殖、胰岛素合成和分泌以及细胞凋亡中的作用。

此外，一些 lncRNA 已被证明与胰腺 β 细胞功能障碍有关，这些功能与不同类型的糖尿病有关，包括 1 型和 2 型糖尿病，以及该疾病的单基因形式。与糖尿病相关的致病条件（例如炎症或脂糖毒性）会失调几种 lncRNA 的表达，这表明 lncRNA 的变化可能会改变 β 细胞功能的潜在重要途径，并最终导致 β 细胞功能障碍和糖尿病发展。从这个意义上说，一些 lncRNA 的功能表征表明，这些非编码分子在胰腺 β 细胞水平参与了几个关键通路的调节，这些通路的失调导致致病表型。

在这篇综述中，我们概述了功能表征的 lncRNA 在健康 β 细胞中的作用机制，并描述了一些糖尿病相关 lncRNA 对胰腺 β 细胞衰竭的贡献。