Purpose: Lipotoxicity is implicated in type 2 diabetes pathogenesis. Its molecular mechanisms are not completely understood. The aim of this study is to identify new suspect proteins involved in pancreatic -cell death induction by saturated fatty acids and its inhibition by unsaturated fatty acids. Experimental design: Employing 2DE analysis and subsequent western blot confirmation, the differences in membrane/membrane-associated protein expression in human -cell line NES2Y are assessed during cell death induction by stearate and its inhibition by oleate. Results: Induction of apoptosis by stearate is associated with significantly increased levels of Hsp90, peroxiredoxin-1, and 14-3-3␥ in the membrane fraction of NES2Y cells and significantly decreased levels of annexin A2, annexin A4, and reticulocalbin-2. All these changes are significantly inhibited by oleate co-application. No expression changes are detected after application of stearate together with oleate. Furthermore, the expression of reticulocalbin-2 is significantly decreased after stearate application also in the whole cell lysate. Conclusions and clinical relevance: Several membrane-associated proteins that could be related to pro-and anti-apoptotic signaling initiated by fatty acids in human pancreatic -cells are identified. As far as we know, annexin A4, reticulocalbin-2, and 14-3-3␥ represent novel molecules related to the effect of fatty acids on -cell viability.