Multipotential phenotypic expression of genes encoding peptide hormones in rat insulinoma cell lines

The developmental origin of the four phenotypically distinct hormone-producing islet cells (insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, pancreatic polypeptide) is unclear. To investigate the potential for phenotypic differentiation of islet cells, we prepared several clonal cell lines from a radiation-induced rat islet tumor and analyzed them for insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin gene expression by cDNA hybridization, immunocytochemistry, and radioimmunoassay. We found expression of all three genes in the tumor and in the parental cell line and mixed variable phenotypes in the clonal lines derived from the parental line. We also observed the ectopic expression of the angiotensinogen gene in the tumor and the cell lines. The relative levels of hormonal gene expression differed among the cell lines but remained fixed during continuous passage. The three islet hormone mRNAs were larger compared to the pancreas owing to longer poly(A) tracts. These observations indicate that neoplastic islet cells retain the potential to differentiate into hormone-specific cellular phenotypes and may mimic developmental pathways of the pancreatic islets.

Insulinotropin: glucagon-like peptide I (7-37) co-encoded in the glucagon gene is a potent stimulator of insulin release in the perfused rat pancreas

Insulin secretion is controlled by a complex set of factors that include not only glucose but amino acids, catecholamines, and intestinal hormones. We report that a novel glucagon-like peptide, co-encoded with glucagon in the glucagon gene is a potent insulinotropic factor. The glucagon gene encodes a proglucagon that contains in its sequence glucagon and additional glucagon-like peptides (GLPs). These GLPs are liberated from proglucagon in both the pancreas and intestines. GLP-I exists in at least two forms: 37 amino acids GLP-I(1-37), and 31 amino acids, GLP-I(7-37). We studied the effects of synthetic GLP-Is on insulin secretion in the isolated perfused rat pancreas. In the presence of 6.6 mM glucose, GLP-I(7-37) is a potent stimulator of insulin secretion at concentrations as low as 5 X 10(-11) M (3- to 10-fold increases over basal). GLP-I(1-37) had no effect on insulin secretion even at concentrations as high as 5 X 10(-7) M. The earlier demonstration of specific liberation of GLP-I(7-37) in the intestine and pancreas, and the magnitude of the insulinotropic effect at such low concentrations, suggest that GLP-I(7-37) participates in the physiological regulation of insulin secretion.

Transcriptional regulation of genes encoding insulin, glucagon, and angiotensinogen by sodium butyrate in a rat islet cell line

The state of differentiation of various neoplastic cell lines is inversely correlated with the rate of cellular growth. To delineate the changes in hormone gene expression associated with an induced decrease in the growth rate of rat insulinoma cells, we studied the effects of sodium butyrate on the expression of the genes encoding insulin, glucagon, and angiotensinogen. Sodium butyrate inhibited cellular proliferation and decreased levels of c-myc mRNA. Concomitantly, steady-state levels of mRNAs encoding insulin and glucagon increased by 10- and 8.5-fold, respectively, as a result of a specific increase in the transcription of both genes. Sodium butyrate also inhibited angiotensinogen gene expression, which was ectopic in the insulinoma cells. These observations suggest that sodium butyrate induces a pattern of events leading to the differentiation of the rat insulinoma cells.

Mapping polypeptide hormone genes in the mouse: somatostatin, glucagon, calcitonin, and parathyroid hormone

Mouse-Chinese hamster hybrids segregating mouse chromosomes were analyzed by Southern hybridization techniques to map the genes for somatostatin (Smst), glucagon (Gcg), calcitonin (Calc), and parathyroid hormone (Pth). The mouse gene for somatostatin, detected on a 20-kb EcoRI fragment, is located on mouse chromosome 16. Glucagon cDNA hybridized to a 14-kb EcoRI fragment residing on chromosome 2. Calcitonin and parathyroid hormone genes, detected on 7.8-kb HindIII and 6.0-kb BamHI fragments, respectively, were on mouse chromosome 7. The calcitonin and parathyroid hormone genes appear to be part of a larger linkage group which has been conserved in mouse and man.

Proglucagon processing in a rat islet cell line resembles phenotype of intestine rather than pancreas

Proglucagon, synthesized in the pancreatic islets and the intestinal L-cells, contains in its precursor structure glucagon, glicentin, and two glucagon-like peptides (GLP-I and GLP-II) separated by an intervening peptide (IP-II). We have cloned a stable rat islet cell line expressing the glucagon gene at high levels, thereby allowing us to study the posttranslational processing of proglucagon in this cell line. In contrast to the processing of proglucagon in the pancreas, in which glucagon is liberated, in the cell line we found the intestinal pattern of peptides consisting of glicentin, at least two forms of GLP-I [GLP-I-(1-37) and GLP-I-(7-37)], GLP-II, IP-II, and an amidated form of IP-II. No individually processed glucagon peptide was detected. GLP-I-(1-37), GLP-I-(7-37), GLP-II, IP-II, and IP-II amide coeluted with their respective synthetic peptide standards on gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. The existence of a single glucagon gene in the rat genome and indistinguishable glucagon mRNAs in pancreas and intestine indicates that the neoplastic transformation that occurred in these islet cells is associated with a phenotypic switch in the differential posttranslational processing of proglucagon to a pattern that mimics that found in the intestinal cells. These observations further support the hypothesis of a common progenitor for the intestinal (L) and islet (A) cells.

Preproglucagon gene expression in pancreas and intestine diversifies at the level of post-translational processing

Glucagon is a pancreatic hormone of 29 amino acids that regulates carbohydrate metabolism and glicentin is an intestinal peptide of 69 amino acids that contains the sequence of glucagon flanked by peptide extensions at the amino and carboxy termini. The glucagon gene encodes a precursor containing glucagon and two additional, structurally related, glucagon-like peptides separated by an intervening peptide. These peptides are encoded in separate exons. To determine whether the pancreatic and intestinal forms of glucagon arise by alternative RNA and/or protein processing, we used antisera to synthetic glucagon-like peptides and exon-specific, complementary oligonucleotides for analyses of proteins and mRNAs in pancreatic and intestinal extracts. Preproglucagon mRNAs are identical, but different and highly specific peptides are liberated in the two tissues. Immunocytochemistry shows colocalization of glucagon and the two glucagon-like peptides in identical cells. We conclude that diversification of preproglucagon gene expression occurs at the level of cell-specific post-translational processing.

Cell-specific post-translational processing of preproglucagon expressed from a metallothionein-glucagon fusion gene

Glucagon is a peptide hormone of 29 amino acids encoded by a preprohormone which contains in tandem the sequences of glucagon and two additional glucagon-like peptides (GLPs) structurally related to glucagon and separated by intervening peptides. Glucagon arises by cleavage from the prohormone within the A cells of the pancreatic islets but in the intestine remains as part of a partially processed precursor (glicentin). To determine whether additional glucagon-like peptides are processed from preproglucagon and to analyze for potential cellular specificity in the processing of preproglucagon, we introduced and expressed a metallothionein-glucagon fusion gene in a fibroblast and two endocrine (pituitary and pancreatic islet) cell lines. Chromatographic analyses of cell extracts utilizing specific radioimmunoassays to chemically synthesized peptides demonstrate the liberation of intact glucagon, glicentin, GLP-I(1-37), GLP-I(7-37), GLP-II, and an intervening peptide amidated at its carboxyl terminus. The peptides were present in distinct yet different patterns in the two endocrine but not the fibroblast cell lines. The cell-specific liberation of the glucagon-like and intervening peptides suggests their potential as new bioactive peptides. The cellular specificity in the processing of preproglucagon indicates that the genetic determinants of the processing activity are complex and are expressed in a cell-specific manner.

Mutations in the guinea pig preproglucagon gene are restricted to a specific portion of the prohormone sequence

A cDNA clone encoding guinea pig preproglucagon has been isolated from a pancreatic cDNA library. The predicted amino acid sequence of proglucagon is highly conserved in all regions, in comparison to other mammals, except for the C-terminal portion of the 29-residue glucagon region, in which 5 amino acid substitutions have occurred. These changes may serve to offset the reduced receptor-binding potency of the highly mutated insulin in this New World species.

Structure of the human glucagon gene

A clone containing the complete human glucagon gene was isolated and sequenced. The gene is approximately 9.4 kilobases in length and comprises six exons and five introns. The putative preproglucagon encoded by this gene, 180 amino acids in length and containing glucagon and two glucagon-like peptides, is very similar to that of other mammalian species (greater than 90% amino acid sequence homology). There is 88% nucleotide sequence homology between the proximal 130 base pairs of the 5' flanking regions of the human and rat glucagon genes. These sequences, highly conserved throughout evolution, are likely involved in the regulation of glucagon gene transcription.

Isolation and structure of the principal products of preproglucagon processing, including an amidated glucagon-like peptide

The principal products derived from in vivo processing of anglerfish preproglucagon II were isolated and their structures determined. The structures were confirmed by a combination of automated Edman degradation, amino acid analysis, and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The peptide corresponding to anglerfish preproglucagon II-(22-49) (numbering from the amino terminus of preproglucagon) was isolated intact and defines the site of signal cleavage to be between Gln-21 and Met-22. Glucagon from the anglerfish preproglucagon gene II was found to correspond to preproglucagon II-(52-80) (numbering from the amino terminus). Three forms of a glucagon-like peptide derived from preproglucagon II were also isolated. The structure of the longest form was consistent with the sequence of preproglucagon II-(89-122) deduced from the cDNA, His-Ala-Asp-Gly-Thr-Tyr-Thr-Ser-Asp-Val-Ser-Ser-Tyr-Leu-Gln-Asp-Gln-Ala- Ala-Lys-Asp-Phe-Val-Ser-Trp-Leu-Lys-Ala-Gly-Arg-Gly-Arg-Arg-Glu. The carboxyl-terminal portion deduced from the cDNA remains intact in this form. A second form, preproglucagon II-(89-119) appears to result from proteolytic processing of the major form at the two adjacent arginine residues occurring at the carboxyl terminus. This second form has a glycine residue at its carboxyl terminus and is processed to the third form (preproglucagon II-(89-118)) which contains a carboxyl-terminal arginineamide. Radiolabeling studies in primary tissue culture support the observation that glucagon (preproglucagon II-(52-80], preproglucagon II-(89-122), and preproglucagon II-(89-119) are products of proglucagon processing in vivo.

Guinea pig glucagon differs from other mammalian glucagons

Mammalian glucagon is thought to be highly conserved. Glucagons from pig, cow, human, rat, and hamster have identical amino acid sequences, whereas the amino acid contents of rabbit and camel glucagons are consistent with this 29-amino acid sequence. It had earlier been reported that guinea pig (GP) glucagon contains 40 amino acids. In the current study, glucagon was purified from two GP pancreata by a series of three HPLC steps after acid-alcohol extraction and acetone precipitation. GP glucagon is a 29-amino acid peptide that differs from other mammalian glucagons by substitution of Gln for Asp in position 21, Leu for Val in position 23, Lys for Gln in position 24, Leu for Met in position 27, and Val for Thr in position 29. In view of the marked changes in the COOH-terminal of GP glucagon, receptor binding studies were performed using both rat and GP liver membranes. Labeled synthetic porcine glucagon has similar binding in the two systems and its binding is inhibited to a similar degree by synthetic porcine glucagon, whereas GP glucagon is 10-fold less potent at inhibiting binding in both systems. This suggests that glucagon receptor binding sites in the GP are evolutionarily more conserved than is GP glucagon.

The glucagon superfamily: precursor structure and gene organization

The glucagon superfamily includes the polypeptides glucagon, secretin, vasoactive inhibitory peptide (VIP), gastric inhibitory peptide and growth hormone-releasing factor (GHRF). Complementary DNA clones which encode the precursors to glucagon, VIP and GHRF have been isolated. Although the sizes and sequences of preproglucagon, prepro VIP and preproGHRF are distinct, the structural organization of the three precursors is similar. Each has a signal peptide, an NH2-terminal peptide and one, two or three peptides whose sequences are related to glucagon. Prepro VIP and preproGHRF also have a COOH-terminal peptide. The sequences of two different anglerfish preproglucagon molecules have been determined and they contain the sequences of glucagon and a related peptide. In contrast, hamster, cow and rat preproglucagon contain the sequences of glucagon and two related peptides. Human and rat prepro VIP contain the sequences of VIP and the related peptide PHM/PHI-27. Human and rat preproGHRF contain the sequence of only one peptide related to glucagon, i.e., GHRF. The genes for both preproglucagon and preproGHRF have been isolated. Their exon-intron organization indicates that each exon encodes a functionally distinct region of the precursor and mRNA.

Glucagon gene sequence. Four of six exons encode separate functional domains of rat pre-proglucagon

Glucagon, a peptide of 29 amino acids that is produced and secreted by the pancreas, is a regulator of carbohydrate and protein metabolism. Recently, we determined the nucleotide sequence of a mRNA of 1300 nucleotides that encodes rat pre-proglucagon, a polyprotein precursor of glucagon. The polyprotein contains the sequences of glucagon and two glucagon-like peptides arranged in tandem and separated by intervening peptides. Now we report the structure of the gene encoding rat pre-proglucagon. The unique transcriptional unit of the gene spans 10 kilobase pairs and consists of six exons and five introns. Four of the six exons encode distinct functional domains of the pre-proglucagon. The signal sequence, glucagon, and two glucagon-like sequences arranged in tandem are each encoded by a separate exon. A promoter sequence TA-TAAA is located 26 base pairs upstream from the mRNA cap site, and two polyadenylation signals AA-TAAA are present in the 3' untranslated region of the encoded mRNA. The 3' flanking region of the gene contains repetitive sequence DNA.

Conversion of proglucagon in pancreatic alpha cells: the major endproducts are glucagon and a single peptide, the major proglucagon fragment, that contains two glucagon-like sequences

It has previously been shown by biosynthetic labeling studies that glucagon is synthesized in mammalian islets via an 18-kDa precursor, proglucagon, that during processing gives rise to glucagon and a secreted peptide of 10 kDa (the major proglucagon fragment, MPGF). We have now developed a simple procedure for the isolation of this peptide from rat pancreatic islets and have characterized it more fully. On the basis of its amino acid composition, MPGF is identified as the COOH-terminal portion of proglucagon that contains two glucagon-related sequences. These sequences do not appear to be liberated from MPGF in alpha cells of the islets of Langerhans but MPGF may be processed further elsewhere in the body or in other cells of the gastrointestinal tract that produce glucagon precursors.

Evolution of glucagon genes

Statistical analyses of DNA sequences of the preproglucagon genes from bovine, human, hamster, and anglerfish suggest that a gene duplication creating two anglerfish genes (AF I and II) occurred about 160 Myr ago, long after the separation of fish and mammals. The analyses further suggest that the internal duplication producing the glucagon and glucagon-like peptide II (GLP-II) regions occurred about 1.2 billion years ago, which would indicate that the GLP-II region was present in the ancestral anglerfish sequence but was silenced or deleted before the gene duplication separating AF I and II. The glucagon-like peptide I (GLP-I) was derived from a duplication of the ancestral glucagon region about 800 Myr ago. The rate of synonymous substitution in these genes is approximately 4.3 x 10(-9) substitutions per year per synonymous site. The rate of nonsynonymous substitution in the signal peptide region is about 1.1 x 10(-9) substitutions per year per nonsynonymous site, a high rate comparable to that in the C-peptide region of preproinsulin. The rate of nonsynonymous substitution in the glicentin-related pancreatic polypeptide (GRPP) region is 0.63 x 10(-9) for the comparisons between mammalian species and 1.8 x 10(-9) for the comparisons between fish and mammals; the moderate rate in mammals suggests a physiological role for GRPP. The glucagon region is extremely conservative; no nonsynonymous substitution is observed in the mammalian genes, and a nonsynonymous rate of 0.18 x 10(-9) was obtained from the comparisons between fish and mammals. In the GLP-I region, the rate of nonsynonymous substitution was estimated to be 0.08 x 10(-9) for the comparisons between mammalian species and 0.30 x 10(-9) for the comparisons between fish and mammals. In the GLP-II region, the rate was estimated to be 0.25 x 10(-9) for the comparisons between mammalian species. Thus, GLP-I and II are also very conservative, which suggests an important physiological role for these peptides.

The human glucagon gene is located on chromosome 2

DNA samples prepared from a panel of human-mouse cell hybrids with different numbers and combinations of human chromosomes were examined for the presence of the human preproglucagon gene by hybridization with a cloned segment of the human gene. The segregation of the human glucagon gene specific DNA fragment and human chromosome 2 in these cell hybrids indicated that the preproglucagon gene (designated GCG) is on chromosome 2 in humans.

Localization of the human glucagon gene (GCG) to chromosome segment 2q36→37

Hybridization of a 3H-labeled bovine glucagon cDNA plasmid to human metaphase chromosomes revealed significant labeling of the distal portion of the long arm of chromosome 2. A large portion (37%) of the cells analyzed exhibited labeling of the 2. A significant percentage (40%) of the labeled sites on the 2 were in segment 2q36----37. Therefore, the human glucagon gene (GCG), was assigned to this segment. Localization of the glucagon gene, whose chromosomal assignment was previously not known, demonstrates the general applicability of in situ hybridization as a powerful gene mapping technique.

Mammalian pancreatic preproglucagon contains three glucagon-related peptides

We have isolated cDNA clones encoding bovine pancreatic preproglucagon. Twenty-five putative preproglucagon clones were selected by screening 3,100 clones of a fetal bovine pancreas cDNA library with a synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide probe. The probe was a mixture of synthetic 17-base DNA oligomers constructed to correspond to the six carboxyl-terminal amino acids (residues 24-29) of mature glucagon. Restriction mapping of six of these clones suggested that they represented a single mRNA species. Primary sequence analysis of one clone containing a 1,200-base-pair DNA insert revealed that it contained an essentially full-length copy of glucagon mRNA. Analysis of the cDNA suggested a protein coding sequence of 540 nucleotides and 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions of 90 and 471 nucleotides, respectively. This cDNA sequence encoded a 20-amino acid signal sequence followed by one for glicentin, a 69-amino acid polypeptide containing an internal glucagon moiety that has been found in porcine intestines. Glicentin is followed by two additional glucagon-like peptides, each flanked by paired basic amino acids (Lys, Arg) characteristic of prohormone processing. These polypeptide sequences show striking homology with those for glucagon and other members of the glucagon family of peptides.

Hamster preproglucagon contains the sequence of glucagon and two related peptides

Glucagon is a 29-amino acid polypeptide hormone synthesized by the A cells of the endocrine pancreas. Its primary site of action is the liver where it stimulates glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis. In mammals, biosynthetic studies have shown that glucagon is derived from a precursor of molecular weight (Mr) approximately 18,000 which is five to six times larger than glucagon. Glucagon-containing polypeptides and immunoreactants of various sizes have also been described from stomach, intestine, brain and salivary gland. Here, we have determined the structure of hamster pancreatic preproglucagon from the sequence of its cDNA. This 180-amino acid precursor contains the sequence of glucagon and two glucagon-like polypeptides arranged in tandem. The precursor also contains the sequences of several non-pancreatic glucagon-containing polypeptides which suggests that, in mammals, both pancreatic and non-pancreatic glucagon and glucagon-containing polypeptides may be derived from a common precursor by tissue-specific processing. We have tentatively identified each of the glucagon-like immunoreactants which have been described with respect to the sequence of proglucagon and have proposed a scheme for the processing of pancreatic proglucagon.

Pancreatic preproglucagon cDNA contains two glucagon-related coding sequences arranged in tandem

We have constructed and cloned in bacteria recombinant plasmids containing DNA complementary to the mRNA encoding a pancreatic preproglucagon (Mr 14,500), a product of cell-free translation of angler fish islet mRNAs shown previously by immunoprecipitation analyses to be a precursor of glucagon. cDNAs of 630, 180, and 120 base pairs were isolated and correspond to most of the mRNA for the preproglucagon (650 bases). The cDNAs contain a protein coding sequence of 372 nucleotides and 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions of 58 and 206 nucleotides, respectively. From the coding sequence of the cDNAs, we find that the sequence of glucagon, identical to mammalian glucagon in 20 of 29 positions, resides in the preproglucagon of 124 amino acids flanked by NH2- and COOH-peptide extensions of 52 and 43 amino acids, respectively. The peptide extensions are linked to the glucagon by Lys-Arg sequences characteristic of the sites that are cleaved during the posttranslational processing of prohormones. Notable is the finding that, following the initial Lys-Arg sequence in the COOH-peptide extension is a pentapeptide. Ser-Gly-Val-Ala-Glu, followed by another Lys-Arg and a sequence of 34 residues that shows striking homology with glucagon and the other peptides of the glucagon family--gastric inhibitory peptide, vasoactive intestinal peptide, and secretin. Thus, the preproglucagon mRNA contains two glucagon-related coding sequences arranged in tandem. The finding of Lys-Arg sequences flanking the glucagon and glucagon-related sequences suggests that these two peptides and a pentapeptide are formed in vivo by posttranslational cleavages of a common precursor.

Pancreatic pre-proglucagons are encoded by two separate mRNAs

Poly(A) RNA prepared from anglerfish islets programs the synthesis in a wheat germ cell-free system of two proteins of Mr = 14,500 and Mr = 12,500 that are both immunoprecipitated by an antiserum prepared to pancreatic glucagon of Mr = 3,500 (29 amino acids). We provide evidence by cDNA hybridizations and nucleotide sequence analyses that these two proteins are precursors of glucagon and that they are encoded by separate genes. Two cloned recombinant cDNAs prepared from the islet mRNAs individually hybrid-selected mRNAs that directed the cell-free synthesis of each of the two glucagon-related proteins. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the cDNA corresponding to the Mr = 14,500 protein revealed a coding sequence for a peptide of 29 amino acids flanked by Lys-Arg sequences typical of those found at the sites of post-translational cleavages of hormone precursors. Twenty of the 29 amino acids in the sequence are identical with those found in the sequence of mammalian pancreatic glucagon. The second of the two cDNAs completely hybrid-arrested the translation of the mRNA encoding the smaller glucagon precursor of Mr = 12,500 but had no effect on the translation of the mRNA encoding the Mr = 14,500 precursor. The cDNA corresponding to this Mr = 14,500 precursor hybridized to the DNA of bacterial colonies containing the cDNA for the Mr = 12,500 precursor. Thus, two separate but partially homologous mRNAs encode the two pre-proglucagons.