scholarly journals CaV1.3 L-type Ca2+ channel modulates pancreatic β-cell electrical activity and survival

2021 ◽  
Vol 154 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Theiner ◽  
Noelia Jacobo-Piqueras ◽  
Nadine J. Ortner ◽  
Stefanie M. Geisler ◽  
Petronel Tuluc

Pancreatic β cells express several high voltage-gated Ca2+ channel (HVCC) isoforms critical for insulin release, cell differentiation, and survival. RNaseq and qPCR analyses demonstrated that CACNA1D gene encoding for CaV1.3-α1D isoform is highly expressed in pancreatic islets of both mice and men. Additionally, CACNA1D genetic polymorphisms were associated with increased susceptibility for diabetes while CaV1.3 gain-of-function mutations cause hyperinsulinemia in humans. Nevertheless, functional evidence for the role of CaV1.3 on β-cell electrical activity, insulin release, and β-cell mass is contradictory and largely unknown. Here, we show that CaV1.3 deletion led to a sixfold increase in DNA damage and a threefold decrease in proliferation markers in pancreatic β cells of 14-d-old mice, while adult mice were largely unaffected. However, β-cell mass was reduced by ∼20% in both young and old mice, resulting in a diminished sustained insulin release. Voltage-clamp recordings in β-cells of 14-d-old mice showed an ∼20% reduction in total Ca2+ influx (WT Ipeak = −19.76 ± 1.04 pA/pF; CaV1.3−/− Ipeak = −14.84 ± 0.61 pA/pF, P = 0.001) accompanied by slower inactivation and an ∼5 mV rightwards shift in the voltage dependence of activation (WT V1/2 = −7.71 ± 0.82 mV; CaV1.3−/− V1/2 = −2.32 ± 1.09 mV, P = 0.0003). Although to a lower extent, Ca2+ influx in adult CaV1.3−/− β cells was similarly affected. Moreover, current-clamp recordings showed that CaV1.3 deletion delayed the glucose-induced action potential (AP) onset, reduced AP firing frequency (e.g., at 7.5 mM glucose, WT = 4.3 Hz; CaV1.3−/− = 2.1 Hz, P = 0.001) and AP-train frequency (e.g., at 7.5 mM glucose intertrain interval, WT = 49.3 ± 9.6 s; CaV1.3−/− = 120.3 ± 25.5 s, P = 0.04) in both young and adult β cells. Therefore, our data demonstrate that the CaV1.3 channel is required for the initiation of glucose-induced β-cell electrical activity and modulates β-cell mass and insulin release in both young and old mice.

2010 ◽  
Vol 299 (1) ◽  
pp. C1-C6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshio Fujitani ◽  
Takashi Ueno ◽  
Hirotaka Watada

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved machinery for degradation and recycling of various cytoplasmic components such as long-lived proteins and organelles. In pancreatic β-cells, as in most other cells, autophagy is also important for the low basal turnover of ubiquitinated proteins and damaged organelles under normal conditions. Insulin resistance results in upregulation of autophagic activity in β-cells. Induced autophagy in β-cells plays a pivotal role in the adaptive expansion of β-cell mass. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether autophagy is protective or detrimental in response to cellular stresses in β-cells. In this review, we describe the crucial roles of autophagy in normal function of β-cells and discuss how dysfunction of the autophagic machinery could lead to the development of diabetes mellitus.


2010 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 179-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Ortsäter

Saturated fatty acids are toxic to pancreatic β-cells. By inducing apoptosis, they contribute to a decrease in β-cell mass, a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes. In the present issue of Clinical Science, Keane and co-workers show that the polyunsaturated fatty acid arachidonic acid protects the β-cell against the toxic effects of palmitate. As Type 2 diabetes is characterized by subclinical inflammation, and arachidonic acid and metabolites thereof are produced during states of inflammation, it is possible that pancreatic β-cells use arachidonic acid as a compound for self-protection.


Endocrinology ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 139 (3) ◽  
pp. 993-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Claude Henquin

Glucose stimulation of pancreatic β-cells triggers electrical activity (slow waves of membrane potential with superimposed spikes) that is best monitored with intracellular microelectrodes. Closure of ATP-sensitive K+ channels underlies the depolarization to the threshold potential and participates in the increase in electrical activity produced by suprathreshold (>7 mm) concentrations of glucose, but it is still unclear whether this is the sole mechanism of control. This was investigated by testing whether blockade of ATP-sensitive K+ channels by low concentrations of tolbutamide is able to mimic the effects of glucose on mouse β-cell electrical activity even in the absence of the sugar. The response to tolbutamide was influenced by the duration of the perifusion with the low glucose medium. Tolbutamide (25 μm) caused a rapid and sustained depolarization with continuous activity after 6 min of perifusion of the islet with 3 mm glucose, and a progressive depolarization with slow waves of the membrane potential after 20 min. In the absence of glucose, the β-cell response to tolbutamide was a transient phase of depolarization with rare slow waves (6 min) or a silent, small, but sustained, depolarization (20 min). Readministration of 3 mm glucose was sufficient to restore slow waves, whereas an increase in the glucose concentration to 5 and 7 mm was followed by a lengthening of the slow waves and a shortening of the intervals. In contrast, induction of slow waves by tolbutamide proved very difficult in the absence of glucose, because the β-cell membrane tended to depolarize from a silent level to the plateau level, at which electrical activity is continuous. Azide, a mitochondrial poison, abrogated the electrical activity induced by tolbutamide in the absence of glucose, which demonstrates the influence of the metabolism of endogenous fuels on the response to the sulfonylurea. The partial repolarization that azide also produced was reversed by increasing the concentration of tolbutamide, but reappearance of the spikes required the addition of glucose. It is concluded that inhibition of ATP-sensitive K+ channels is not the only mechanism by which glucose controls electrical activity inβ -cells.


Endocrinology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 154 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuki Orime ◽  
Jun Shirakawa ◽  
Yu Togashi ◽  
Kazuki Tajima ◽  
Hideaki Inoue ◽  
...  

Decreased β-cell mass is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes, and therapeutic approaches to increase the pancreatic β-cell mass have been expected. In recent years, gastrointestinal incretin peptides have been shown to exert a cell-proliferative effect in pancreatic β-cells. Trefoil factor 2 (TFF2), which is predominantly expressed in the surface epithelium of the stomach, plays a role in antiapoptosis, migration, and proliferation. The TFF family is expressed in pancreatic β-cells, whereas the role of TFF2 in pancreatic β-cells has been obscure. In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which TFF2 enhances pancreatic β-cell proliferation. The effects of TFF2 on cell proliferation were evaluated in INS-1 cells, MIN6 cells, and mouse islets using an adenovirus vector containing TFF2 or a recombinant TFF2 peptide. The forced expression of TFF2 led to an increase in bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation in both INS-1 cells and islets, without any alteration in insulin secretion. TFF2 significantly increased the mRNA expression of cyclin A2, D1, D2, D3, and E1 in islets. TFF2 peptide increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation and BrdU incorporation in MIN6 cells. A MAPK kinase inhibitor (U0126) abrogated the TFF2 peptide-mediated proliferation of MIN6 cells. A CX-chemokine receptor-4 antagonist also prevented the TFF2 peptide-mediated increase in ERK1/2 phosphorylation and BrdU incorporation in MIN6 cells. These results indicated that TFF2 is involved in β-cell proliferation at least partially via CX-chemokine receptor-4-mediated ERK1/2 phosphorylation, suggesting TFF2 may be a novel target for inducing β-cell proliferation.


2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 589-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Hashimoto ◽  
Yoshiaki Kido ◽  
Tohru Uchida ◽  
Shun-ichiro Asahara ◽  
Yutaka Shigeyama ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (49) ◽  
pp. E6818-E6824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Rossi ◽  
Inigo Ruiz de Azua ◽  
Luiz F. Barella ◽  
Wataru Sakamoto ◽  
Lu Zhu ◽  
...  

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulate virtually all physiological functions including the release of insulin from pancreatic β-cells. β-Cell M3 muscarinic receptors (M3Rs) are known to play an essential role in facilitating insulin release and maintaining proper whole-body glucose homeostasis. As is the case with other GPCRs, M3R activity is regulated by phosphorylation by various kinases, including GPCR kinases and casein kinase 2 (CK2). At present, it remains unknown which of these various kinases are physiologically relevant for the regulation of β-cell activity. In the present study, we demonstrate that inhibition of CK2 in pancreatic β-cells, knockdown of CK2α expression, or genetic deletion of CK2α in β-cells of mutant mice selectively augmented M3R-stimulated insulin release in vitro and in vivo. In vitro studies showed that this effect was associated with an M3R-mediated increase in intracellular calcium levels. Treatment of mouse pancreatic islets with CX4945, a highly selective CK2 inhibitor, greatly reduced agonist-induced phosphorylation of β-cell M3Rs, indicative of CK2-mediated M3R phosphorylation. We also showed that inhibition of CK2 greatly enhanced M3R-stimulated insulin secretion in human islets. Finally, CX4945 treatment protected mice against diet-induced hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance in an M3R-dependent fashion. Our data demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, the physiological relevance of CK2 phosphorylation of a GPCR and suggest the novel concept that kinases acting on β-cell GPCRs may represent novel therapeutic targets.


Metabolites ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
Norikiyo Honzawa ◽  
Kei Fujimoto

Type 2 diabetes is caused by impaired insulin secretion and/or insulin resistance. Loss of pancreatic β-cell mass detected in human diabetic patients has been considered to be a major cause of impaired insulin secretion. Additionally, apoptosis is found in pancreatic β-cells; β-cell mass loss is induced when cell death exceeds proliferation. Recently, however, β-cell dedifferentiation to pancreatic endocrine progenitor cells and β-cell transdifferentiation to α-cell was reported in human islets, which led to a new underlying molecular mechanism. Hyperglycemia inhibits nuclear translocation and expression of forkhead box-O1 (FoxO1) and induces the expression of neurogenin-3(Ngn3), which is required for the development and maintenance of pancreatic endocrine progenitor cells. This new hypothesis (Foxology) is attracting attention because it explains molecular mechanism(s) underlying β-cell plasticity. The lineage tracing technique revealed that the contribution of dedifferentiation is higher than that of β-cell apoptosis retaining to β-cell mass loss. In addition, islet cells transdifferentiate each other, such as transdifferentiation of pancreatic β-cell to α-cell and vice versa. Islet cells can exhibit plasticity, and they may have the ability to redifferentiate into any cell type. This review describes recent findings in the dedifferentiation and transdifferentiation of β-cells. We outline novel treatment(s) for diabetes targeting islet cell plasticity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Liu ◽  
Siyuan He ◽  
Ruixue Zhou ◽  
Xueping Zhang ◽  
Shanshan Yang ◽  
...  

Pancreatic β-cell mass and insulin secretion are determined by the dynamic change of transcription factor expression levels in response to altered metabolic demand. Nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y) is an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor playing critical roles in multiple cellular processes. However, the physiological role of NF-Y in pancreatic β-cells is poorly understood. The present study was undertaken in a conditional knockout of <i>Nf-ya</i> specifically in pancreatic β-cells (<i>Nf-ya </i>βKO) to define the essential physiological role of NF-Y in β-cells. <i>Nf-ya </i>βKO mice exhibited glucose intolerance without changes in insulin sensitivity. Reduced β-cell proliferation resulting in decreased β-cell mass was observed in these mice, which was associated with disturbed actin cytoskeleton. NF-Y-deficient β-cells also exhibited impaired insulin secretion with a reduced Ca<sup>2+</sup> influx in response to glucose, which was associated an inefficient glucose uptake into β-cells due to a decreased expression of glucose transporter 2 and a reduction in ATP production resulting from the disruption of mitochondrial integrity. This study is the first to show that NF-Y is critical for pancreatic islets homeostasis and function through regulation in β-cell proliferation, glucose uptake into β-cells, and mitochondrial energy metabolism. Modulating NF-Y expression in β-cells may therefore offer an attractive approach for therapeutic intervention.


Endocrinology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 157 (9) ◽  
pp. 3431-3438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yurong Xin ◽  
Haruka Okamoto ◽  
Jinrang Kim ◽  
Min Ni ◽  
Christina Adler ◽  
...  

Aging improves pancreatic β-cell function in mice. This is a surprising finding because aging is typically associated with functional decline. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing of β-cells from 3- and 26-month-old mice to explore how changes in gene expression contribute to improved function with age. The old mice were healthy and had reduced blood glucose levels and increased β-cell mass, which correlated to their body weight. β-Cells from young and old mice had similar transcriptome profiles. In fact, only 193 genes (0.89% of all detected genes) were significantly regulated (≥2-fold; false discovery rate &lt; 0.01; normalized counts &gt; 5). Of these, 183 were down-regulated and mainly associated with pathways regulating gene expression, cell cycle, cell death, and survival as well as cellular movement, function, and maintenance. Collectively our data show that β-cells from very old mice have transcriptome profiles similar to those of young mice. These data support previous findings that aging is not associated with reduced β-cell mass or functional β-cell decline in mice.


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