scholarly journals Glucocorticoids suppress β-cell development and induce hepatic metaplasia in embryonic pancreas

2003 ◽  
Vol 375 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Ning SHEN ◽  
Jonathan R. SECKL ◽  
Jonathan M. W. SLACK ◽  
David TOSH

Elevated glucocorticoids are associated with low birth weight and fetal ‘programming’ of hypertension and glucose intolerance. In the present paper, we show that treatment of fetal rats with dexamethasone during the last week of gestation reduces the insulin content of their pancreatic β-cells. We reproduce this effect of dexamethasone in vitro using organ cultures of mouse embryonic pancreas, and show that it is associated with an elevation of expression of the transcription factor C/EBPβ (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β) and a reduction of the transcription factor Pdx-1 (pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1). Dexamethasone also induces the appearance of hepatocyte-like cells in organ cultures of pancreas, based on the expression of liver markers, albumin, α1-antitrypsin and transthyretin. Evidence that C/EBPβ is responsible for compromising the differentiation and later function of β-cells is obtained from its effects on the β-cell-like cell line RIN-5F. Transfection with a constitutive form of C/EBPβ suppresses insulin formation, whereas introduction of a dominant-negative inhibitor of C/EBPβ has no effect. We conclude that dexamethasone inhibits insulin expression in pancreatic β-cells via a mechanism involving down-regulation of Pdx-1 and induction of C/EBPβ. This mechanism may operate in combination with other changes during fetal programming, leading to type 2 diabetes in later life.

2009 ◽  
Vol 203 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Yunfeng Liu ◽  
Jihong Qu ◽  
Alexandre Hardy ◽  
Nina Zhang ◽  
...  

Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels regulate pacemaker activity in some cardiac cells and neurons. In the present study, we have identified the presence of HCN channels in pancreatic β-cells. We then examined the functional characterization of these channels in β-cells via modulating HCN channel activity genetically and pharmacologically. Voltage-clamp experiments showed that over-expression of HCN2 in rat β-cells significantly increased HCN current (Ih), whereas expression of dominant-negative HCN2 (HCN2-AYA) completely suppressed endogenous Ih. Compared to control β-cells, over-expression of Ih increased insulin secretion at 2.8 mmol/l glucose. However, suppression of Ih did not affect insulin secretion at both 2.8 and 11.1 mmol/l glucose. Current-clamp measurements revealed that HCN2 over-expression significantly reduced β-cell membrane input resistance (Rin), and resulted in a less-hyperpolarizing membrane response to the currents injected into the cell. Conversely, dominant negative HCN2-AYA expression led to a substantial increase of Rin, which was associated with a more hyperpolarizing membrane response to the currents injected. Remarkably, under low extracellular potassium conditions (2.5 mmol/l K+), suppression of Ih resulted in increased membrane hyperpolarization and decreased insulin secretion. We conclude that Ih in β-cells possess the potential to modulate β-cell membrane potential and insulin secretion under hypokalemic conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ionel Sandovici ◽  
Constanze M. Hammerle ◽  
Sam Virtue ◽  
Yurena Vivas-Garcia ◽  
Adriana Izquierdo-Lahuerta ◽  
...  

AbstractWhen exposed to nutrient excess and insulin resistance, pancreatic β-cells undergo adaptive changes in order to maintain glucose homeostasis. The role that growth control genes, highly expressed in early pancreas development, might exert in programming β-cell plasticity in later life is a poorly studied area. The imprinted Igf2 (insulin-like growth factor 2) gene is highly transcribed during early life and has been identified in recent genome-wide association studies as a type 2 diabetes susceptibility gene in humans. Hence, here we investigate the long-term phenotypic metabolic consequences of conditional Igf2 deletion in pancreatic β-cells (Igf2βKO) in mice. We show that autocrine actions of IGF2 are not critical for β-cell development, or for the early post-natal wave of β-cell remodelling. Additionally, adult Igf2βKO mice maintain glucose homeostasis when fed a chow diet. However, pregnant Igf2βKO females become hyperglycemic and hyperinsulinemic, and their conceptuses exhibit hyperinsulinemia and placentomegalia. Insulin resistance induced by congenital leptin deficiency also renders Igf2βKO females more hyperglycaemic compared to leptin-deficient controls. Upon high-fat diet feeding, Igf2βKO females are less susceptible to develop insulin resistance. Based on these findings, we conclude that in female mice, autocrine actions of β-cell IGF2 during early development determine their adaptive capacity in adult life.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6713
Author(s):  
Romana Bohuslavova ◽  
Ondrej Smolik ◽  
Jessica Malfatti ◽  
Zuzana Berkova ◽  
Zaneta Novakova ◽  
...  

Diabetes is a metabolic disease that involves the death or dysfunction of the insulin-secreting β cells in the pancreas. Consequently, most diabetes research is aimed at understanding the molecular and cellular bases of pancreatic development, islet formation, β-cell survival, and insulin secretion. Complex interactions of signaling pathways and transcription factor networks regulate the specification, growth, and differentiation of cell types in the developing pancreas. Many of the same regulators continue to modulate gene expression and cell fate of the adult pancreas. The transcription factor NEUROD1 is essential for the maturation of β cells and the expansion of the pancreatic islet cell mass. Mutations of the Neurod1 gene cause diabetes in humans and mice. However, the different aspects of the requirement of NEUROD1 for pancreas development are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the role of NEUROD1 during the primary and secondary transitions of mouse pancreas development. We determined that the elimination of Neurod1 impairs the expression of key transcription factors for α- and β-cell differentiation, β-cell proliferation, insulin production, and islets of Langerhans formation. These findings demonstrate that the Neurod1 deletion altered the properties of α and β endocrine cells, resulting in severe neonatal diabetes, and thus, NEUROD1 is required for proper activation of the transcriptional network and differentiation of functional α and β cells.


2008 ◽  
Vol 197 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasan Kulaksiz ◽  
Evelyn Fein ◽  
Peter Redecker ◽  
Wolfgang Stremmel ◽  
Guido Adler ◽  
...  

Body iron is involved in various vital functions. Its uptake in the intestine is regulated by hepcidin, a bioactive peptide originally identified in plasma and urine and subsequently in the liver. In the present study, we provide evidence at the transcriptional and translational levels that hepcidin is also expressed in the pancreas of rat and man. Immunohistochemical studies localized the peptide exclusively to β-cells of the islets of Langerhans. Immunoelectron microscopical analyses revealed that hepcidin is confined to the insulin-storing β-cell secretory granules. As demonstrated in insulinoma-derived RINm5F cells, the expression of hepcidin in β-cells is regulated by iron. Based on the present findings we conclude that pancreatic islets are an additional source of the peptide hepcidin. The localization of this peptide to β-cells suggests that pancreatic β-cells may be involved in iron metabolism in addition to their genuine function in blood glucose regulation. In view of the various linked iron/glucose disorders in the pancreas, the present findings may provide an insight into the phenomenology of intriguing mutual relationships between iron and glucose metabolisms.


2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 4553-4563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seon-Yong Yeom ◽  
Geun Hyang Kim ◽  
Chan Hee Kim ◽  
Heun Don Jung ◽  
So-Yeon Kim ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Activating signal cointegrator 2 (ASC-2) is a transcriptional coactivator of many nuclear receptors (NRs) and other transcription factors and contains two NR-interacting LXXLL motifs (NR boxes). In the pancreas, ASC-2 is expressed only in the endocrine cells of the islets of Langerhans, but not in the exocrine cells. Thus, we examined the potential role of ASC-2 in insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells. Overexpressed ASC-2 increased glucose-elicited insulin secretion, whereas insulin secretion was decreased in islets from ASC-2+/− mice. DN1 and DN2 are two dominant-negative fragments of ASC-2 that contain NR boxes 1 and 2, respectively, and block the interactions of cognate NRs with the endogenous ASC-2. Primary rat islets ectopically expressing DN1 or DN2 exhibited decreased insulin secretion. Furthermore, relative to the wild type, ASC-2+/− mice showed reduced islet mass and number, which correlated with increased apoptosis and decreased proliferation of ASC-2+/− islets. These results suggest that ASC-2 regulates insulin secretion and β-cell survival and that the regulatory role of ASC-2 in insulin secretion appears to involve, at least in part, its interaction with NRs via its two NR boxes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zehua Liu ◽  
Bo Li

Recent studies support the view that highland barley as whole grain diet showed anti-hyperglycemic effects, while little information is available about the active compounds that could ameliorate pancreatic β cells...


2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sankaranand S. Vukkadapu ◽  
Jenine M. Belli ◽  
Koji Ishii ◽  
Anil G. Jegga ◽  
John J. Hutton ◽  
...  

In type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), also known as autoimmune diabetes, the pathogenic destruction of the insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells is under the control of and influenced by distinct subsets of T lymphocytes. To identify the critical genes expressed by autoimmune T cells, antigen presenting cells, and pancreatic β-cells during the evolution of T1DM in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse, and the genetically-altered NOD mouse (BDC/N), we used functional genomics. Microarray analysis revealed increased transcripts of genes encoding inflammatory cytokines, particularly interleukin (IL)-17, and islet cell regenerating genes, Reg3α, Reg3β, and Reg3γ. Our data indicate that progression to insulitis was connected to marked changes in islet antigen expression, β-cell differentiation, and T cell activation and signaling, all associated with tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-6 expression. Overt diabetes saw a clear shift in cytokine, chemokine, and T cell differentiation factor expression, consistent with a focused Th1 response, as well as a significant upregulation in genes associated with cellular adhesion, homing, and apoptosis. Importantly, the temporal pattern of expression of key verified genes suggested that T1DM develops in a relapsing/remitting as opposed to a continuous fashion, with insulitis linked to hypoxia-regulated gene control and diabetes with C/EBP and Nkx2 gene control.


2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (16) ◽  
pp. 8004-8011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Sun Lee ◽  
Na Li ◽  
Seungjin Shin ◽  
Hee-Sook Jun

ABSTRACT The D variant of encephalomyocarditis virus (EMC-D virus) causes diabetes in mice by destroying pancreatic β cells. In mice infected with a low dose of EMC-D virus, macrophages play an important role in β-cell destruction by producing soluble mediators such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and nitric oxide (NO). To investigate the role of NO and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in the development of diabetes in EMC-D virus-infected mice, we infected iNOS-deficient DBA/2 mice with EMC-D virus (2 × 102 PFU/mouse). Mean blood glucose levels in EMC-D virus-infected iNOS-deficient mice and wild-type mice were 205.5 and 466.7 mg/dl, respectively. Insulitis and macrophage infiltration were reduced in islets of iNOS-deficient mice compared with wild-type mice at 3 days after EMC-D virus infection. Apoptosis of β cells was decreased in iNOS-deficient mice, as evidenced by reduced numbers of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling-positive cells. There were no differences in mRNA expression of antiapoptotic molecules Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bcl-w, Mcl-1, cIAP-1, and cIAP-2 between wild-type and iNOS-deficient mice, whereas expression of proapoptotic Bax and Bak mRNAs was significantly decreased in iNOS-deficient mice. Expression of IL-1β and TNF-α mRNAs was significantly decreased in both islets and macrophages of iNOS-deficient mice compared with wild-type mice after EMC-D virus infection. Nuclear factor κB was less activated in macrophages of iNOS-deficient mice after virus infection. We conclude that NO plays an important role in the activation of macrophages and apoptosis of pancreatic β cells in EMC-D virus-infected mice and that deficient iNOS gene expression inhibits macrophage activation and β-cell apoptosis, contributing to prevention of EMC-D virus-induced diabetes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Diana Gamboa ◽  
Carlos E. Vázquez ◽  
Paul J. Campos

Type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an autoimmune disease that has an impact on mortality due to the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic β -cells in the islets of Langerhans. Over the past few years, the interest in analyzing this type of disease, either in a biological or mathematical sense, has relied on the search for a treatment that guarantees full control of glucose levels. Mathematical models inspired by natural phenomena, are proposed under the prey–predator scheme. T1DM fits in this scheme due to the complicated relationship between pancreatic β -cell population growth and leukocyte population growth via the immune response. In this scenario, β -cells represent the prey, and leukocytes the predator. This paper studies the global dynamics of T1DM reported by Magombedze et al. in 2010. This model describes the interaction of resting macrophages, activated macrophages, antigen cells, autolytic T-cells, and β -cells. Therefore, the localization of compact invariant sets is applied to provide a bounded positive invariant domain in which one can ensure that once the dynamics of the T1DM enter into this domain, they will remain bounded with a maximum and minimum value. Furthermore, we analyzed this model in a closed-loop scenario based on nonlinear control theory, and proposed bases for possible control inputs, complementing the model with them. These entries are based on the existing relationship between cell–cell interaction and the role that they play in the unchaining of a diabetic condition. The closed-loop analysis aims to give a deeper understanding of the impact of autolytic T-cells and the nature of the β -cell population interaction with the innate immune system response. This analysis strengthens the proposal, providing a system free of this illness—that is, a condition wherein the pancreatic β -cell population holds and there are no antigen cells labeled by the activated macrophages.


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