scholarly journals Multi-Organ Crosstalk with Endocrine Pancreas: A Focus on How Gut Microbiota Shapes Pancreatic Beta-Cells

Biomolecules ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Elisa Fernández-Millán ◽  
Carlos Guillén

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) results from impaired beta-cell function and insufficient beta-cell mass compensation in the setting of insulin resistance. Current therapeutic strategies focus their efforts on promoting the maintenance of functional beta-cell mass to ensure appropriate glycemic control. Thus, understanding how beta-cells communicate with metabolic and non-metabolic tissues provides a novel area for investigation and implicates the importance of inter-organ communication in the pathology of metabolic diseases such as T2D. In this review, we provide an overview of secreted factors from diverse organs and tissues that have been shown to impact beta-cell biology. Specifically, we discuss experimental and clinical evidence in support for a role of gut to beta-cell crosstalk, paying particular attention to bacteria-derived factors including short-chain fatty acids, lipopolysaccharide, and factors contained within extracellular vesicles that influence the function and/or the survival of beta cells under normal or diabetogenic conditions.

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Puddu ◽  
Roberta Sanguineti ◽  
François Mach ◽  
Franco Dallegri ◽  
Giorgio Luciano Viviani ◽  
...  

The primary function of pancreatic beta-cells is to produce and release insulin in response to increment in extracellular glucose concentrations, thus maintaining glucose homeostasis. Deficient beta-cell function can have profound metabolic consequences, leading to the development of hyperglycemia and, ultimately, diabetes mellitus. Therefore, strategies targeting the maintenance of the normal function and protecting pancreatic beta-cells from injury or death might be crucial in the treatment of diabetes. This narrative review will update evidence from the recently identified molecular regulators preserving beta-cell mass and function recovery in order to suggest potential therapeutic targets against diabetes. This review will also highlight the relevance for novel molecular pathways potentially improving beta-cell dysfunction.


Author(s):  
Ryland D. Mortlock ◽  
Senta K. Georgia ◽  
Stacey D. Finley

Abstract Introduction The expansion of insulin-producing beta cells during pregnancy is critical to maintain glucose homeostasis in the face of increasing insulin resistance. Prolactin receptor (PRLR) signaling is one of the primary mediators of beta cell expansion during pregnancy, and loss of PRLR signaling results in reduced beta cell mass and gestational diabetes. Harnessing the proliferative potential of prolactin signaling to expand beta cell mass outside of the context of pregnancy requires quantitative understanding of the signaling at the molecular level. Methods A mechanistic computational model was constructed to describe prolactin-mediated JAK-STAT signaling in pancreatic beta cells. The effect of different regulatory modules was explored through ensemble modeling. A Bayesian approach for likelihood estimation was used to fit the model to experimental data from the literature. Results Including receptor upregulation, with either inhibition by SOCS proteins, receptor internalization, or both, allowed the model to match experimental results for INS-1 cells treated with prolactin. The model predicts that faster dimerization and nuclear import rates of STAT5B compared to STAT5A can explain the higher STAT5B nuclear translocation. The model was used to predict the dose response of STAT5B translocation in rat primary beta cells treated with prolactin and reveal possible strategies to modulate STAT5 signaling. Conclusions JAK-STAT signaling must be tightly controlled to obtain the biphasic response in STAT5 activation seen experimentally. Receptor up-regulation, combined with SOCS inhibition, receptor internalization, or both is required to match experimental data. Modulating reactions upstream in the signaling can enhance STAT5 activation to increase beta cell survival.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebeca Fernandez-Ruiz ◽  
Ainhoa García-Alamán ◽  
Yaiza Esteban ◽  
Joan Mir-Coll ◽  
Berta Serra-Navarro ◽  
...  

AbstractExpanding the mass of pancreatic insulin-producing beta cells through re-activation of beta cell replication has been proposed as a therapy to prevent or delay the appearance of diabetes. Pancreatic beta cells exhibit an age-dependent decrease in their proliferative activity, partly related to changes in the systemic environment. Here we report the identification of CCN4/Wisp1 as a circulating factor more abundant in pre-weaning than in adult mice. We show that Wisp1 promotes endogenous and transplanted adult beta cell proliferation in vivo. We validate these findings using isolated mouse and human islets and find that the beta cell trophic effect of Wisp1 is dependent on Akt signaling. In summary, our study reveals the role of Wisp1 as an inducer of beta cell replication, supporting the idea that the use of young blood factors may be a useful strategy to expand adult beta cell mass.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuno Omori ◽  
Akinobu Nakamura ◽  
Hideaki Miyoshi ◽  
Yuki Yamauchi ◽  
Shinichiro Kawata ◽  
...  

Efficacy of glucokinase activation on glycemic control is limited to a short-term period. One reason might be related with the excess glucose signalling by glucokinase activation towards beta-cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of glucokinase haploinsufficiency on glucose tolerance as well as beta-cell function and mass using a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. Our results showed that <i>db/db</i> mice with glucokinase haploinsufficiency presented amelioration of glucose tolerance by augmented insulin secretion associated with the increase in beta-cell mass when compared with <i>db/db</i> mice. Gene expression profiling, and immunohistochemical and metabolomic analyses revealed that glucokinase haploinsufficiency in the islets of <i>db/db</i> mice was associated with lower expression of stress-related genes, higher expression of transcription factors involved in the maintenance and maturation of beta-cell function, less mitochondrial damage, and a superior metabolic pattern. These effects of glucokinase haploinsufficiency could preserve beta-cell mass under diabetic conditions. These findings verified our hypothesis that optimizing excess glucose signalling in beta-cells by inhibiting glucokinase could prevent beta-cell insufficiency, leading to improving glucose tolerance in diabetes status by preserving beta-cell mass. Therefore, glucokinase inactivation in beta-cells could, paradoxically, be a potential strategy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 747-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunxia Zhu ◽  
Yi Sun ◽  
Yuncai Zhou ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Tao Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractCurrent research indicates that beta cell loss in type 2 diabetes may be attributed to beta cell dedifferentiation rather than apoptosis; however, the mechanisms by which this occurs remain poorly understood. Our previous study demonstrated that elevation of microRNA-24 (miR-24) in a diabetic setting caused beta cell dysfunction and replicative deficiency. In this study, we focused on the role of miR-24 in beta cell apoptosis and dedifferentiation under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress conditions. We found that miR-24 overabundance protected beta cells from thapsigargin-induced apoptosis at the cost of accelerating the impairment of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and enhancing the presence of dedifferentiation markers. Ingenuity® Pathway Analysis (IPA) revealed that elevation of miR-24 had an inhibitory effect on XBP1 and ATF4, which are downstream effectors of two key branches of ER stress, by inhibiting its direct target, Ire1α. Notably, elevated miR-24 initiated another pathway that targeted Mafa and decreased GSIS function in surviving beta cells, thus guiding their dedifferentiation under ER stress conditions. Our results demonstrated that the elevated miR-24, to the utmost extent, preserves beta cell mass by inhibiting apoptosis and inducing dedifferentiation. This study not only provides a novel mechanism by which miR-24 dominates beta cell turnover under persistent metabolic stress but also offers a therapeutic consideration for treating diabetes by inducing dedifferentiated beta cells to re-differentiation.


Diabetologia ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 542-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iseki Takamoto ◽  
Naoto Kubota ◽  
Keizo Nakaya ◽  
Katsuyoshi Kumagai ◽  
Shinji Hashimoto ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuno Omori ◽  
Akinobu Nakamura ◽  
Hideaki Miyoshi ◽  
Yuki Yamauchi ◽  
Shinichiro Kawata ◽  
...  

Efficacy of glucokinase activation on glycemic control is limited to a short-term period. One reason might be related with the excess glucose signalling by glucokinase activation towards beta-cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of glucokinase haploinsufficiency on glucose tolerance as well as beta-cell function and mass using a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. Our results showed that <i>db/db</i> mice with glucokinase haploinsufficiency presented amelioration of glucose tolerance by augmented insulin secretion associated with the increase in beta-cell mass when compared with <i>db/db</i> mice. Gene expression profiling, and immunohistochemical and metabolomic analyses revealed that glucokinase haploinsufficiency in the islets of <i>db/db</i> mice was associated with lower expression of stress-related genes, higher expression of transcription factors involved in the maintenance and maturation of beta-cell function, less mitochondrial damage, and a superior metabolic pattern. These effects of glucokinase haploinsufficiency could preserve beta-cell mass under diabetic conditions. These findings verified our hypothesis that optimizing excess glucose signalling in beta-cells by inhibiting glucokinase could prevent beta-cell insufficiency, leading to improving glucose tolerance in diabetes status by preserving beta-cell mass. Therefore, glucokinase inactivation in beta-cells could, paradoxically, be a potential strategy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Rosselot ◽  
Alexandra Alvarsson ◽  
Peng Wang ◽  
Yansui Li ◽  
Kunal Kumar ◽  
...  

AbstractSince all diabetes results from reductions in numbers of functional pancreatic beta cells, beta cell regenerative drugs are required for optimal and scalable future diabetes treatment. While many diabetes drugs are in clinical use, none increases human beta cell numbers. We have shown that a combination of the DYRK1A inhibitor, harmine, with the GLP1 receptor agonist, exendin-4, markedly increases human beta cell proliferation in vitro. However, technological limitations have prevented assessment of human beta cell mass in vivo. Here, we describe a novel method that combines iDISCO+ tissue clearing, insulin immunolabeling, light sheet microscopy, and volumetric quantification of human beta cells transplanted into immunodeficient mice. We demonstrate a striking seven-fold in vivo increase in human beta cell mass in response to three months of combined harmine-exendin-4 combination infusion, accompanied by lower blood glucose levels, increased plasma human insulin concentrations and enhanced beta cell proliferation. These studies unequivocally demonstrate for the first time that pharmacologic human beta cell expansion is a realistic and achievable path to diabetes therapy, and provide a rigorous, entirely novel and reproducible tool for quantifying human beta cell mass in vivo.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Clavijo Jordan ◽  
Catherine D. G. Hines ◽  
Liza T. Gantert ◽  
Shubing Wang ◽  
Stacey Conarello ◽  
...  

Non-invasive beta cell function measurements may provide valuable information for improving diabetes diagnostics and disease management as the integrity and function of pancreatic beta cells have been found to be compromised in Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes. Currently, available diabetes assays either lack functional information or spatial identification of beta cells. In this work, we introduce a method to assess the function of beta cells in the non-human primate pancreas non-invasively with MRI using a Gd-based zinc(II) sensor as a contrast agent, Gd-CP027. Additionally, we highlight the role of zinc(II) ions in the paracrine signaling of the endocrine pancreas via serological measurements of insulin and c-peptide. Non-human primates underwent MRI exams with simultaneous blood sampling during a Graded Glucose Infusion (GGI) with Gd-CP027 or with a non-zinc(II) sensitive contrast agent, gadofosveset. Contrast enhancement of the pancreas resulting from co-release of zinc(II) ion with insulin was observed focally when using the zinc(II)-specific agent, Gd-CP027, whereas little enhancement was detected when using gadofosveset. The contrast enhancement detected by Gd-CP027 increased in parallel with an increased dose of infused glucose. Serological measurements of C-peptide and insulin indicate that Gd-CP027, a high affinity zinc(II) contrast agent, potentiates their secretion only as a function of glucose stimulation. Taken in concert, this assay offers the possibility of detecting beta cell function in vivo non-invasively with MRI and underscores the role of zinc(II) in endocrine glucose metabolism.


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