scholarly journals Expression of Neurexin, Neuroligin, and Their Cytoplasmic Binding Partners in the Pancreatic β-Cells and the Involvement of Neuroligin in Insulin Secretion

Endocrinology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 149 (12) ◽  
pp. 6006-6017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur T. Suckow ◽  
Davide Comoletti ◽  
Megan A. Waldrop ◽  
Merrie Mosedale ◽  
Sonya Egodage ◽  
...  

The composition of the β-cell exocytic machinery is very similar to that of neuronal synapses, and the developmental pathway of β-cells and neurons substantially overlap. β-Cells secrete γ-aminobutyric acid and express proteins that, in the brain, are specific markers of inhibitory synapses. Recently, neuronal coculture experiments have identified three families of synaptic cell-surface molecules (neurexins, neuroligins, and SynCAM) that drive synapse formation in vitro and that control the differentiation of nascent synapses into either excitatory or inhibitory fully mature nerve terminals. The inhibitory synapse-like character of the β-cells led us to hypothesize that members of these families of synapse-inducing adhesion molecules would be expressed in β-cells and that the pattern of expression would resemble that associated with neuronal inhibitory synaptogenesis. Here, we describe β-cell expression of the neuroligins, neurexins, and SynCAM, and show that neuroligin expression affects insulin secretion in INS-1 β-cells and rat islet cells. Our findings demonstrate that neuroligins and neurexins are expressed outside the central nervous system and help confer an inhibitory synaptic-like phenotype onto the β-cell surface. Analogous to their role in synaptic neurotransmission, neurexin-neuroligin interactions may play a role in the formation of the submembrane insulin secretory apparatus.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akansha Mishra ◽  
Siming Liu ◽  
Joseph Promes ◽  
Mikako Harata ◽  
William Sivitz ◽  
...  

Perilipin 2 (PLIN2) is the lipid droplet (LD) protein in β cells that increases under nutritional stress. Down-regulation of PLIN2 is often sufficient to reduce LD accumulation. To determine whether PLIN2 positively or negatively affects β cell function under nutritional stress, PLIN2 was down-regulated in mouse β cells, INS1 cells, and human islet cells. β cell specific deletion of PLIN2 in mice on a high fat diet reduced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in vivo and in vitro. Down-regulation of PLIN2 in INS1 cells blunted GSIS after 24 h incubation with 0.2 mM palmitic acids. Down-regulation of PLIN2 in human pseudoislets cultured at 5.6 mM glucose impaired both phases of GSIS, indicating that PLIN2 is critical for GSIS. Down-regulation of PLIN2 decreased specific OXPHOS proteins in all three models and reduced oxygen consumption rates in INS1 cells and mouse islets. Moreover, we found that PLIN2 deficient INS1 cells increased the distribution of a fluorescent oleic acid analog to mitochondria and showed signs of mitochondrial stress as indicated by susceptibility to fragmentation and alterations of acyl-carnitines and glucose metabolites. Collectively, PLIN2 in β cells have an important role in preserving insulin secretion, β cell metabolism and mitochondrial function under nutritional stress.


2015 ◽  
Vol 100 (10) ◽  
pp. 3651-3659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Aguayo-Mazzucato ◽  
Amanda DiIenno ◽  
Jennifer Hollister-Lock ◽  
Christopher Cahill ◽  
Arun Sharma ◽  
...  

Context: Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) differentiated toward β-cells and fetal human pancreatic islet cells resemble each other transcriptionally and are characterized by immaturity with a lack of glucose responsiveness, low levels of insulin content, and impaired proinsulin-to-insulin processing. However, their response to stimuli that promote functionality have not been compared. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of our previous strategies for functional maturation developed in rodents in these two human models of β-cell immaturity and compare their responses. Design, Settings, Participants, and Interventions: In proof-of-principle experiments using either adenoviral-mediated overexpression of V-Maf avian musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene homolog A (MAFA) or the physiologically driven path via thyroid hormone (T3) and human fetal islet-like cluster (ICC) functional maturity was evaluated. Then the effects of T3 were evaluated upon the functional maturation of hESCs differentiated toward β-cells. Main Outcome Measures: Functional maturation was evaluated by the following parameters: glucose responsiveness, insulin content, expression of the mature β-cell transcription factor MAFA, and proinsulin-to-insulin processing. Results: ICCs responded positively to MAFA overexpression and T3 treatment as assessed by two different maturation parameters: increased insulin secretion at 16.8 mM glucose and increased proinsulin-to-insulin processing. In hESCs differentiated toward β-cells, T3 enhanced MAFA expression, increased insulin content (probably mediated by the increased MAFA), and increased insulin secretion at 16.8 mM glucose. Conclusion: T3 is a useful in vitro stimulus to promote human β-cell maturation as shown in both human fetal ICCs and differentiated hESCs. The degree of maturation induced varied in the two models, possibly due to the different developmental status at the beginning of the study.


2012 ◽  
Vol 213 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengu Liu ◽  
Violeta Stanojevic ◽  
Luke J Brindamour ◽  
Joel F Habener

Type 2 diabetes, often associated with obesity, results from a deficiency of insulin production and action manifested in increased blood levels of glucose and lipids that further promote insulin resistance and impair insulin secretion. Glucolipotoxicity caused by elevated plasma glucose and lipid levels is a major cause of impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells, due to increased oxidative stress, and insulin resistance. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1), an insulinotropic glucoincretin hormone, is known to promote β-cell survival via its actions on its G-protein-coupled receptor on β-cells. Here, we report that a nonapeptide, GLP1(28–36)amide, derived from the C-terminal domain of the insulinotropic GLP1, exerts cytoprotective actions on INS-1 β-cells and on dispersed human islet cells in vitro in conditions of glucolipotoxicity and increased oxidative stress independently of the GLP1 receptor. The nonapeptide appears to enter preferably stressed, glucolipotoxic cells compared with normal unstressed cells. It targets mitochondria and improves impaired mitochondrial membrane potential, increases cellular ATP levels, inhibits cytochrome c release, caspase activation, and apoptosis, and enhances the viability and survival of INS-1 β-cells. We propose that GLP1(28–36)amide might be useful in alleviating β-cell stress and might improve β-cell functions and survival.


2014 ◽  
Vol 307 (9) ◽  
pp. E800-E812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Leiss ◽  
Katarina Flockerzie ◽  
Ana Novakovic ◽  
Michaela Rath ◽  
Annika Schönsiegel ◽  
...  

Bordetella pertussis toxin (PTx), also known as islet-activating protein, induces insulin secretion by ADP-ribosylation of inhibitory G proteins. PTx-induced insulin secretion may result either from inactivation of Gαo proteins or from combined inactivation of Gαo, Gαi1, Gαi2, and Gαi3 isoforms. However, the specific role of Gαi2 in pancreatic β-cells still remains unknown. In global (Gαi2−/−) and β-cell-specific (Gαi2βcko) gene-targeted Gαi2 mouse models, we studied glucose homeostasis and islet functions. Insulin secretion experiments and intracellular Ca2+ measurements were used to characterize Gαi2 function in vitro. Gαi2−/− and Gαi2βcko mice showed an unexpected metabolic phenotype, i.e., significantly lower plasma insulin levels upon intraperitoneal glucose challenge in Gαi2−/− and Gαi2βcko mice, whereas plasma glucose concentrations were unchanged in Gαi2−/− but significantly increased in Gαi2βcko mice. These findings indicate a novel albeit unexpected role for Gαi2 in the expression, turnover, and/or release of insulin from islets. Detection of insulin secretion in isolated islets did not show differences in response to high (16 mM) glucose concentrations between control and β-cell-specific Gαi2-deficient mice. In contrast, the two- to threefold increase in insulin secretion evoked by l-arginine or l-ornithine (in the presence of 16 mM glucose) was significantly reduced in islets lacking Gαi2. In accord with a reduced level of insulin secretion, intracellular calcium concentrations induced by the agonistic amino acid l-arginine did not reach control levels in β-cells. The presented analysis of gene-targeted mice provides novel insights in the role of β-cell Gαi2 showing that amino acid-induced insulin-release depends on Gαi2.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 5605-5613 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Cardinal ◽  
Geoffrey P. Margison ◽  
Kurt J. Mynett ◽  
Allen P. Yates ◽  
Donald P. Cameron ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Type 1 diabetes is thought to occur as a result of the loss of insulin-producing pancreatic β cells by an environmentally triggered autoimmune reaction. In rodent models of diabetes, streptozotocin (STZ), a genotoxic methylating agent that is targeted to the β cells, is used to trigger the initial cell death. High single doses of STZ cause extensive β-cell necrosis, while multiple low doses induce limited apoptosis, which elicits an autoimmune reaction that eliminates the remaining cells. We now show that in mice lacking the DNA repair enzyme alkylpurine-DNA-N-glycosylase (APNG), β-cell necrosis was markedly attenuated after a single dose of STZ. This is most probably due to the reduction in the frequency of base excision repair-induced strand breaks and the consequent activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), which results in catastrophic ATP depletion and cell necrosis. Indeed, PARP activity was not induced in APNG−/− islet cells following treatment with STZ in vitro. However, 48 h after STZ treatment, there was a peak of apoptosis in the β cells of APNG−/− mice. Apoptosis was not observed in PARP-inhibited APNG+/+ mice, suggesting that apoptotic pathways are activated in the absence of significant numbers of DNA strand breaks. Interestingly, STZ-treated APNG−/− mice succumbed to diabetes 8 months after treatment, in contrast to previous work with PARP inhibitors, where a high incidence of β-cell tumors was observed. In the multiple-low-dose model, STZ induced diabetes in both APNG−/− and APNG+/+ mice; however, the initial peak of apoptosis was 2.5-fold greater in the APNG−/− mice. We conclude that APNG substrates are diabetogenic but by different mechanisms according to the status of APNG activity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Hallahan ◽  
Kylie Deng ◽  
Dillon Jevon ◽  
Krish Kumar ◽  
Jason Tong ◽  
...  

A developing understanding suggests that spatial compartmentalisation of components the glucose stimulus?secretion pathway in pancreatic β cells are critical in controlling insulin secretion. To investigate the mechanisms, we have developed live-cell sub-cellular imaging methods using the organotypic pancreatic slice. We demonstrate that the organotypic pancreatic slice, when compared with isolated islets, preserves intact β cell structure, and enhances glucose dependent Ca2+ responses and insulin secretion. Using the slice technique, we have discovered the essential role of local activation of integrins and the downstream component, focal adhesion kinase, in regulating β cells. Integrins and focal adhesion kinase are exclusively activated at the β cell capillary interface and using in situ and in vitro models we show their activation both positions presynaptic scaffold proteins, like ELKS and liprin, and regulates glucose dependent Ca2+ responses and insulin secretion. We conclude that focal adhesion kinase orchestrates the final steps of glucose dependent insulin secretion within the restricted domain where β cells contact the islet capillaries.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1892-1904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan-dan Yin ◽  
Er-bao Zhang ◽  
Liang-hui You ◽  
Ning Wang ◽  
Lin-tao Wang ◽  
...  

Background: Increasing evidence indicates that long noncoding RNAs (IncRNAs) perform specific biological functions in diverse processes. Recent studies have reported that IncRNAs may be involved in β cell function. The aim of this study was to characterize the role of IncRNA TUG1 in mouse pancreatic β cell functioning both in vitro and in vivo. Methods: qRT-PCR analyses were performed to detect the expression of lncRNA TUG1 in different tissues. RNAi, MTT, TUNEL and Annexin V-FITC assays and western blot, GSIS, ELISA and immunochemistry analyses were performed to detect the effect of lncRNA TUG1 on cell apoptosis and insulin secretion in vitro and in vivo. Results: lncRNA TUG1 was highly expressed in pancreatic tissue compared with other organ tissues, and expression was dynamically regulated by glucose in Nit-1 cells. Knockdown of lncRNA TUG1 expression resulted in an increased apoptosis ratio and decreased insulin secretion in β cells both in vitro and in vivo . Immunochemistry analyses suggested decreased relative islet area after treatment with lncRNA TUG1 siRNA. Conclusion: Downregulation of lncRNA TUG1 expression affected apoptosis and insulin secretion in pancreatic β cells in vitro and in vivo. lncRNA TUG1 may represent a factor that regulates the function of pancreatic β cells.


2007 ◽  
Vol 193 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin Tsunekawa ◽  
Naoki Yamamoto ◽  
Katsura Tsukamoto ◽  
Yuji Itoh ◽  
Yukiko Kaneko ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to investigate the in vivo and in vitro effects of exendin-4, a potent glucagon-like peptide 1 agonist, on the protection of the pancreatic β-cells against their cell death. In in vivo experiments, we used β-cell-specific calmodulin-overexpressing mice where massive apoptosis takes place in their β-cells, and we examined the effects of chronic treatment with exendin-4. Chronic and s.c. administration of exendin-4 reduced hyperglycemia. The treatment caused significant increases of the insulin contents of the pancreas and islets, and retained the insulin-positive area. Dispersed transgenic islet cells lived only shortly, and several endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related molecules such as immunoglobulin-binding protein (Bip), inositol-requiring enzyme-1α, X-box-binding protein-1 (XBP-1), RNA-activated protein kinase-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase, activating transcription factor-4, and C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) were more expressed in the transgenic islets. We also found that the spliced form of XBP-1, a marker of ER stress, was also increased in β-cell-specific calmodulin-overexpressing transgenic islets. In the quantitative real-time PCR analyses, the expression levels of Bip and CHOP were reduced in the islets from the transgenic mice treated with exendin-4. These findings suggest that excess of ER stress occurs in the transgenic β-cells, and the suppression of ER stress and resultant protection against cell death may be involved in the anti-diabetic effects of exendin-4.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 421
Author(s):  
Hui Huang ◽  
Bradi R. Lorenz ◽  
Paula Horn Zelmanovitz ◽  
Catherine B. Chan

Prediabetes is a high-risk condition for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Pancreatic β-cells adapt to impaired glucose regulation in prediabetes by increasing insulin secretion and β-cell mass expansion. In people with prediabetes, metformin has been shown to prevent prediabetes conversion to diabetes. However, emerging evidence indicates that metformin has negative effects on β-cell function and survival. Our previous study established the Nile rat (NR) as a model for prediabetes, recapitulating characteristics of human β-cell compensation in function and mass expansion. In this study, we investigated the action of metformin on β-cells in vivo and in vitro. A 7-week metformin treatment improved glucose tolerance by reducing hepatic glucose output and enhancing insulin secretion. Although high-dose metformin inhibited β-cell glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in vitro, stimulation of β-cell insulin secretion was preserved in metformin-treated NRs via an indirect mechanism. Moreover, β-cells in NRs receiving metformin exhibited increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperones and alleviated apoptotic unfold protein response (UPR) without changes in the expression of cell identity genes. Additionally, metformin did not suppress β-cell mass compensation or proliferation. Taken together, despite the conflicting role indicated by in vitro studies, administration of metformin does not exert a negative effect on β-cell function or cell mass and, instead, early metformin treatment may help protect β-cells from exhaustion and decompensation.


2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 476-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Dufayet de la Tour ◽  
Tanya Halvorsen ◽  
Carla Demeterco ◽  
Björn Tyrberg ◽  
Pamela Itkin-Ansari ◽  
...  

Abstract Cell transplantation therapy for diabetes is limited by an inadequate supply of cells exhibiting glucose-responsive insulin secretion. To generate an unlimited supply of human β-cells, inducibly transformed pancreatic β-cell lines have been created by expression of dominant oncogenes. The cell lines grow indefinitely but lose differentiated function. Induction of β-cell differentiation was achieved by stimulating the signaling pathways downstream of the transcription factor PDX-1, cell-cell contact, and the glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptor. Synergistic activation of those pathways resulted in differentiation into functional β-cells exhibiting glucose-responsive insulin secretion in vitro. Both oncogene-expressing and oncogene-deleted cells were transplanted into nude mice and found to exhibit glucose-responsive insulin secretion in vivo. The ability to grow unlimited quantities of human β-cells is a major step toward developing a cell transplantation therapy for diabetes.


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