Emerging role of protein kinase B/Akt signaling in pancreatic β-cell mass and function

2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 689-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynda Elghazi ◽  
Norman Balcazar ◽  
Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi
2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhipeng Li ◽  
Zhaoshui Shangguan ◽  
Yijie Liu ◽  
Jihua Wang ◽  
Xuejun Li ◽  
...  

Pancreatic β-cell loss because of apoptosis is the major cause of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and late stage T2D. Puerarin possesses anti-diabetic properties; whether it acts directly on pancreatic β-cell is not clear. This study was designed to investigate the effects of puerarin on pancreatic β-cell survival and function. Diabetes was induced in male C57BL/6 mice by a single peritoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Pancreatic β-cell survival and function were assessed in diabetic mice by measuring β-cell apoptosis, β-cell mass, pancreatic insulin content, and glucose tolerance, and in cultured islets and clonial MIN6 β-cells by measuring β-cell viability and apoptosis and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. We found that pre-treatment with puerarin decreased the incidence of STZ-induced diabetes. Puerarin increased pancreatic β-cell mass via β-cell apoptosis inhibition in diabetic mice, and increased serum insulin, whereas it decreased blood glucose levels and improved glucose tolerance. In cultured islets and MIN6 cells, puerarin protected β-cell from cobalt chloride (CoCl2)-induced apoptosis and restored the impaired capacity of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Puerarin protection of β-cell survival involved the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway. In conclusion, puerarin protects pancreatic β-cell function and survival via direct effects on β-cells, and its protection of β-cell survival is mediated by the PI3K/Akt pathway. As a safe natural plant extraction, puerarin might serve as a preventive and/or therapeutic approach for diabetes.


2004 ◽  
Vol 287 (2) ◽  
pp. E192-E198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna M. Dickson ◽  
Christopher J. Rhodes

The control of pancreatic β-cell growth and survival in the adult plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. In certain insulin-resistant states, such as obesity, the increased insulin-secretory demand can often be compensated for by an increase in β-cell mass, so that the onset of type 2 diabetes is avoided. This is why approximately two-thirds of obese individuals do not progress to type 2 diabetes. However, the remaining one-third of obese subjects that do acquire type 2 diabetes do so because they have inadequate compensatory β-cell mass and function. As such, type 2 diabetes is a disease of insulin insufficiency. Indeed, it is now realized that, in the vast majority of type 2 diabetes cases, there is a decreased β-cell mass caused by a marked increase in β-cell apoptosis that outweighs rates of β-cell mitogenesis and neogenesis. Thus a means of promoting β-cell survival has potential therapeutic implications for treating type 2 diabetes. However, understanding the control of β-cell growth and survival at the molecular level is a relatively new subject area of research and still in its infancy. Notwithstanding, recent advances have implicated signal transduction via insulin receptor substrate-2 (IRS-2) and downstream via protein kinase B (PKB, also known as Akt) as critical to the control of β-cell survival. In this review, we highlight the mechanism of IRS-2, PKB, and anti-apoptotic PKB substrate control of β-cell growth and survival, and we discuss whether these may be targeted therapeutically to delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.


2012 ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Balcazar Morales ◽  
Cecilia Aguilar de Plata

Growth factors, insulin signaling and nutrients are important regulators of β-cell mass and function. The events linking these signals to regulation of β-cell mass are not completely understood. Recent findings indicate that mTOR pathway integrates signals from growth factors and nutrients with transcription, translation, cell size, cytoskeleton remodeling and mitochondrial metabolism. mTOR is a part of two distinct complexes; mTORC1 and mTORC2. The mammalian TORC1 is sensitive to rapamycin and contains Raptor, deptor, PRAS40 and the G protein β-subunit-like protein (GβL). mTORC1 activates key regulators of protein translation; ribosomal S6 kinase (S6K) and eukaryote initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1. This review summarizes current findings about the role of AKT/mTORC1 signaling in regulation of pancreatic β cell mass and proliferation. mTORC1 is a major regulator of β-cell cycle progression by modulation of cyclins D2, D3 and cdk4/cyclin D activity. These studies uncovered key novel pathways controlling cell cycle progression in β-cells in vivo. This information can be used to develop alternative approaches to expand β-cell mass in vivo and in vitro without the risk of oncogenic transformation. The acquisition of such knowledge is critical for the design of improved therapeutic strategies for the treatment and cure of diabetes as well as to understand the effects of mTOR inhibitors in β-cell function.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. e2821-e2821 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Dong ◽  
Y Zhang ◽  
J Wang ◽  
D S Kim ◽  
H Wu ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia K. Linnemann ◽  
Mieke Baan ◽  
Dawn Belt Davis

Abstract Because obesity rates have increased dramatically over the past 3 decades, type 2 diabetes has become increasingly prevalent as well. Type 2 diabetes is associated with decreased pancreatic β-cell mass and function, resulting in inadequate insulin production. Conversely, in nondiabetic obesity, an expansion in β-cell mass occurs to provide sufficient insulin and to prevent hyperglycemia. This expansion is at least in part due to β-cell proliferation. This review focuses on the mechanisms regulating obesity-induced β-cell proliferation in humans and mice. Many factors have potential roles in the regulation of obesity-driven β-cell proliferation, including nutrients, insulin, incretins, hepatocyte growth factor, and recently identified liver-derived secreted factors. Much is still unknown about the regulation of β-cell replication, especially in humans. The extracellular signals that activate proliferative pathways in obesity, the relative importance of each of these pathways, and the extent of cross-talk between these pathways are important areas of future study.


Endocrinology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 150 (5) ◽  
pp. 2072-2079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Hammar ◽  
Alejandra Tomas ◽  
Domenico Bosco ◽  
Philippe A. Halban

Extracellular matrix has a beneficial impact on β-cell spreading and function, but the underlying signaling pathways have yet to be fully elucidated. In other cell types, Rho, a well-characterized member of the family of Rho GTPases, and its effector Rho-associated kinase (ROCK), play an important role as downstream mediators of outside in signaling from extracellular matrix. Therefore, a possible role of the Rho-ROCK pathway in β-cell spreading, actin cytoskeleton dynamics, and function was investigated. Rho was inhibited using a new cell-permeable version of C3 transferase, whereas the activity of ROCK was repressed using the specific ROCK inhibitors H-1152 and Y-27632. Inhibition of Rho and of ROCK increased spreading and improved both short-term and prolonged glucose-stimulated insulin secretion but had no impact on basal secretion. Inhibition of this pathway led to a depolymerization of the actin cytoskeleton. Furthermore, the impact of the inhibition of ROCK on stimulated insulin secretion was acute and reversible, suggesting that rapid signaling such as phosphorylation is involved. Finally, quantification of the activity of RhoA indicated that the extracellular matrix represses RhoA activity. Overall these results show for the first time that the Rho-ROCK signaling pathway contributes to the stabilization of the actin cytoskeleton and inhibits glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in primary pancreatic β-cells. Furthermore, they indicate that inhibition of this pathway might be one of the mechanisms by which the extracellular matrix exerts its beneficial effects on pancreatic β-cell function.


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