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Availability: The API and associated software is open source and currently available for access at https://github.com/NCATS-Tangerine/translator-knowledge-beacon., Competing Interests: The commercial role of RMB within STAR Informatics / Delphinai Corporation is one of Founder CEO and Principal Scientist of the firm. All other authors working for the firm conducted the work under regular full-time or temporary employment contract basis, under primary supervision by RMB. The Biomedical Data Translator project outputs for this paper, open sourced and access in nature, as delivered by the consultancy subcontract, do not represent any other marketable commercial benefit to the firm in terms of patents, products in development, or marketed products. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Type-1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells are destroyed by the immune system. An emerging strategy to regenerate beta-cell mass is through transdifferentiation of pancreatic alpha cells to beta cells. We previously reported two small molecules, BRD7389 and GW8510, that induce insulin expression in a mouse alpha cell line and provide a glimpse into potential intermediate cell states in beta-cell reprogramming from alpha cells. These small-molecule studies suggested that inhibition of kinases in particular may induce the expression of several beta-cell markers in alpha cells. To identify potential lineage reprogramming protein targets, we compared the transcriptome, proteome, and phosphoproteome of alpha cells, beta cells, and compound-treated alpha cells. Our phosphoproteomic analysis indicated that two kinases, BRSK1 and CAMKK2, exhibit decreased phosphorylation in beta cells compared to alpha cells, and in compound-treated alpha cells compared to DMSO-treated alpha cells. Knock-down of these kinases in alpha cells resulted in expression of key beta-cell markers. These results provide evidence that perturbation of the kinome may be important for lineage reprogramming of alpha cells to beta cells.