Insulin secretory dynamics during development of rat pancreas

Induction of pancreatic duct cells of neonatal rats into insulin-producing cells with fetal bovine serum: a natural protocol and its use for patch clamp experiments

AIM

To induce the pancreatic duct cells into endocrine cells with a new natural protocol for electrophysiological study.

METHODS

The pancreatic duct cells of neonatal rats were isolated, cultured and induced into endocrine cells with 15% fetal bovine serum for a period of 20 d. During this period, insulin secretion, MTT value, and morphological change of neonatal and adult pancreatic islet cells were comparatively investigated. Pancreatic beta-cells were identified by morphological and electrophysiological characteristics, while ATP sensitive potassium channels (K(ATP)), voltage-dependent potassium channels (K(V)), and voltage-dependent calcium channels (K(CA)) in beta-cells were identified by patch clamp technique.

RESULTS

After incubation with fetal bovine serum, the neonatal duct cells budded out, changed from duct-like cells into islet clusters. In the first 4 d, MTT value and insulin secretion increased slowly (MTT value from 0.024+/-0.003 to 0.028+/-0.003, insulin secretion from 2.6+/-0.6 to 3.1+/-0.8 mIU/L). Then MTT value and insulin secretion increased quickly from d 5 to d 10 (MTT value from 0.028+/-0.003 to 0.052+/-0.008, insulin secretion from 3.1+/-0.8 to 18.3+/-2.6 mIU/L), then reached high plateau (MTT value >0.052+/-0.008, insulin secretion >18.3+/-2.6 mIU/L). In contrast, for the isolated adult pancreatic islet cells, both insulin release and MTT value were stable in the first 4 d (MTT value from 0.029+/-0.01 to 0.031+/-0.011, insulin secretion from 13.9+/-3.1 to 14.3+/-3.3 mIU/L), but afterwards they reduced gradually (MTT value <0.031+/-0.011, insulin secretion <8.2+/-1.5 mIU/L), and the pancreatic islet cells became dispersed, broken or atrophied correspondingly. The differentiated neonatal cells were identified as pancreatic islet cells by dithizone staining method, and pancreatic beta-cells were further identified by both morphological features and electrophysiological characteristics, i.e. the existence of recording currents from K(ATP), K(V), and K(CA).

CONCLUSION

Islet cells differentiated from neonatal pancreatic duct cells with the new natural protocol are more advantageous in performing patch clamp study over the isolated adult pancreatic islet cells.

Development of beta-cell mass in fetuses of rats deprived of protein and/or energy in last trimester of pregnancy

Fetal malnutrition is now proposed as a risk factor of later obesity and type II diabetes. We previously analyzed the long-term impact of reduced protein and/or energy intake strictly limited to the last week of pregnancy in Wistar rats. Three protocols of gestational malnutrition were used: 1) low-protein isocaloric diet (5 instead of 15%) with pair feeding to the mothers receiving the control diet, 2) restricted diet (50% of control diet), and 3) low protein-restricted diet (50% of low-protein diet). Only isolated protein restriction induced a long-term beta-cell mass decrease. In the present study, we used the same protocols of food restriction to analyze their short-term impact (on day 21.5 of pregnancy) on beta-cell mass development. A 50% beta-cell mass decrease was present in the three restricted groups, but low-protein diet, either associated or not to energy restriction, increased fetal beta-cell insulin content. Among all the parameters analyzed to further explain our results, we found that the fetal plasma level of taurine was lowered by low-protein diet and was the main predictor of the fetal plasma insulin level (r = 0.63, P < 0.01). In conclusion, rat fetuses exposed to protein and/or energy restriction during the third part of pregnancy have a similar dramatic decrease in beta-cell mass, and their ability to recover beta-cell mass development retardation depends on the type of malnutrition used. Moreover, our results support the hypothesis that taurine might play an important role in fetal beta-cell mass function.

Early-life programming of susceptibility to dysregulation of glucose metabolism and the development of Type 2 diabetes mellitus

There is increasing epidemiological evidence in humans which associates low birthweight with later metabolic disorders, including insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. There is evidence that nutritional and hormonal factors (e.g. maternal protein restriction, exposure to excess maternal glucocorticoids) markedly influence intra-uterine growth and development. A picture is also emerging of the biochemical and physiological mechanisms that may underlie these effects. This review focuses on recent research directed towards understanding the molecular basis of the relationship between indices of poor early growth and the subsequent development of glucose intolerance and Type 2 diabetes mellitus using animal models that attempt to recreate the process of programming via an adverse intra-uterine or neonatal environment. Emphasis is on the chain of events and potential mechanisms by which adverse adaptations affect pancreatic-beta-cell insulin secretion and the sensitivity to insulin of key metabolic processes, including hepatic glucose production, skeletal-muscle glucose disposal and adipose-tissue lipolysis. Unravelling the molecular details involved in metabolic programming may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of impaired glucoregulation and Type 2 diabetes.

Impaired pancreatic beta cell function in the fetal GK rat. Impact of diabetic inheritance

The Goto-Kakisaki (GK) rat is a genetic model of non-insulin-dependent diabetes. At 21.5 d of age we found that GK fetuses had an increased plasma glucose concentration, a decreased plasma insulin level, and a reduced pancreatic beta cell mass. To investigate the beta cell function during fetal life we used a hyperglycemic clamp protocol applied to the mothers, which allowed us to obtain a steady-state hyperglycemia in the corresponding fetuses. At variance, with Wistar (W) fetuses, plasma insulin concentration in GK fetuses did not rise in response to hyperglycemia. In contrast, GK fetal pancreas released insulin in response to glucose in vitro to the same extent as W fetal pancreas. Such a discrepancy between the in vivo and in vitro results suggests that the lack of pancreatic reactivity to glucose as seen in vivo is extrinsic to the fetal GK beta cell. Finally, the importance of gestational hyperglycemia was investigated by performing crosses between GK and W rats. Fetuses issued from crosses between W mother and GK father or GK mother and W father had a beta cell mass close to normal values and were still able to increase their plasma insulin levels in response to hyperglycemia in vivo. Our data suggest that hyperglycemia in utero does not influence the severity of the decrease of the beta cell mass or the lack of the insulin secretory response to glucose in the fetal GK rat. Moreover they indicate that conjunction of GK genes originating from both parents is necessary in order for these defects to be fully expressed.

Large scale isolation, growth, and function of porcine neonatal islet cells

Based upon existing methods of isolating fetal porcine islet tissue, a simple, reliable procedure was developed for the preparation of porcine neonatal islet cell aggregates with a reproducible and defined cellular composition. After 9 d of in vitro culture, tissue from one neonatal pig pancreas yielded approximately 50,000 islet cell aggregates, consisting of primarily epithelial cells (57%) and pancreatic endocrine cells (35%). During the culture period, the total beta cell mass decreased initially, but subsequently increased 1.5-fold between days 3 and 9. Transplantation of grafts consisting of 3 x 10(5) beta cells (1,000 aggregated) under the kidney capsule of alloxan-diabetic nude mice corrected hyperglycemia in 75% (10/13) of the animals, whereas, 100% (20/20) of recipients implanted with 6 x 10(5) beta cells (2,000 aggregates) achieved euglycemia within 8 wk posttransplantation. Nephrectomy of the graft bearing kidney at 14 wk posttransplantation resulted in hyperglycemia in all recipients, and examination of the grafts revealed the presence of numerous well-granulated insulin- and glucagon-containing cells. The cellular insulin content of these grafts was 20 to 30-fold higher than at the time of transplantation. These results indicate that the neonatal porcine pancrease can be used as a source of large numbers of viable islet cells, which have the potential for growth both in vitro and in vivo, and exhibit the metabolic capacity to correct diabetes in nude mice.

Functional and morphological differentiation of fetal porcine islet-like cell clusters after transplantation into nude mice

By using a previously described culture technique for the midgestational fetal porcine pancreas, islet-like cell clusters with a Beta-cell frequency of approximately 5% have been produced in large numbers. These islet-like cell clusters were transplanted beneath the kidney capsule to either normoglycaemic or alloxan-treated nude mice. The grafts consistently failed to cure the alloxan-treated mice immediately after implantation, however, normoglycaemia was restored in a majority of the mice within 2 months after transplantation and in all animals after 4 and 6 months. Indeed, the insulin released from the transplanted fetal Beta cells was able to normalize the serum glucose concentration at porcine levels (4-5 mmol/l) rather than at the level maintained in mice (8-10 mmol/l). In the cured mice there was a normal secretory response to glucose in the grafts as evidenced by normal glucose profiles during intravenous glucose tolerance test and a biphasic insulin response to high glucose when perfusing the graft bearing kidney. On the other hand, in the normoglycaemic animals the second phase faded before the glucose stimulus had been withdrawn. Two months after transplantation the endocrine cells were arranged so that the endocrine non-Beta cells were randomly scattered among a majority of Beta cells. The cell replication of the Beta cells, measured by 3H-thymidine incorporation, was within the lower range of that seen in the native islets of adult mice. No major differences between the controls and the alloxan-treated animals were observed in this respect. Cultured islet-like cell clusters had high rates of glucose utilization, paralleled by low rates of glucose oxidation, compared with adult mouse islets.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)