Overexpression of pre-pro-cholecystokinin stimulates beta-cell proliferation in mouse and human islets with retention of islet function

Agenesis and Hypomyelination of Corpus Callosum in Mice Lacking Nsun5, an RNA Methyltransferase

Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is caused by microdeletions of 28 genes and is characterized by cognitive disorder and hypotrophic corpus callosum (CC). Nsun5 gene, which encodes cytosine-5 RNA methyltransferase, is located in the deletion loci of WBS. We have reported that single-gene knockout of Nsun5 (Nsun5-KO) in mice impairs spatial cognition. Herein, we report that postnatal day (PND) 60 Nsun5-KO mice showed the volumetric reduction of CC with a decline in the number of myelinated axons and loose myelin sheath. Nsun5 was highly expressed in callosal oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and oligodendrocytes (OLs) from PND7 to PND28. The numbers of OPCs and OLs in CC of PND7-28 Nsun5-KO mice were significantly reduced compared to wild-type littermates. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses of myelin basic protein (MBP) showed the hypomyelination in the CC of PND28 Nsun5-KO mice. The Nsun5 deletion suppressed the proliferation of OPCs but did not affect transition of radial glial cells into OPCs or cell cycle exit of OPCs. The protein levels, rather than transcriptional levels, of CDK1, CDK2 and Cdc42 in the CC of PND7 and PND14 Nsun5-KO mice were reduced. These findings point to the involvement of Nsun5 deletion in agenesis of CC observed in WBS.

Gut: A key player in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes?

The gut regulates glucose and energy homeostasis; thus, the presence of ingested nutrients into the gut activates sensing mechanisms that affect both glucose homeostasis and regulate food intake. Increasing evidence suggest that gut may also play a key role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes which may be related to both the intestinal microbiological profile and patterns of gut hormones secretion. Intestinal microbiota includes trillions of microorganisms but its composition and function may be adversely affected in type 2 diabetes. The intestinal microbiota may be responsible of the secretion of molecules that may impair insulin secretion/action. At the same time, intestinal milieu regulates the secretion of hormones such as GLP-1, GIP, ghrelin, gastrin, somatostatin, CCK, serotonin, peptide YY, GLP-2, all of which importantly influence metabolism in general and in particular glucose metabolism. Thus, the aim of this paper is to review the current evidence on the role of the gut in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, taking into account both hormonal and microbiological aspects.

Augmented Stat5 Signaling Bypasses Multiple Impediments to Lactogen-Mediated Proliferation in Human β-Cells

Pregnancy in rodents is associated with a two- to threefold increase in β-cell mass, which is attributable to large increases in β-cell proliferation, complimented by increases in β-cell size, survival, and function and mediated mainly by the lactogenic hormones prolactin (PRL) and placental lactogens. In humans, however, β-cell mass does not increase as dramatically during pregnancy, and PRL fails to activate proliferation in human islets in vitro. To determine why, we explored the human PRL-prolactin receptor (hPRLR)-Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)-signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5)-cyclin-cdk signaling cascade in human β-cells. Surprisingly, adult human β-cells express little or no PRLR. As expected, restoration of the hPRLR in human β-cells rescued JAK2-STAT5 signaling in response to PRL. However, rescuing hPRLR-STAT5 signaling nevertheless failed to confer proliferative ability on adult human β-cells in response to PRL. Surprisingly, mouse (but not human) Stat5a overexpression led to upregulation of cyclins D1-3 and cdk4, as well as their nuclear translocation, all of which are associated with β-cell cycle entry. Collectively, the findings show that human β-cells fail to proliferate in response to PRL for multiple reasons, one of which is a paucity of functional PRL receptors, and that murine Stat5 overexpression is able to bypass these impediments.

Replication factor C3 is a CREB target gene that regulates cell cycle progression through the modulation of chromatin loading of PCNA

CREB (cyclic AMP response element-binding protein) is a transcription factor overexpressed in normal and neoplastic myelopoiesis and regulates cell cycle progression, although its oncogenic mechanism has not been well characterized. Replication factor C3 (RFC3) is required for chromatin loading of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) which is a sliding clamp platform for recruiting numerous proteins in the DNA metabolism. CREB1 expression, which was activated by E2F, was coupled with RFC3 expression during the G1/S progression in the KG-1 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell line. There was also a direct correlation between the expression of RFC3 and CREB1 in human AML cell lines as well as in the AML cells from the patients. CREB interacted directly with the CRE site in RFC3 promoter region. CREB-knockdown inhibited primarily G1/S cell cycle transition by decreasing the expression of RFC3 as well as PCNA loading onto the chromatin. Exogenous expression of RFC3 was sufficient to rescue the impaired G1/S progression and PCNA chromatin loading caused by CREB knockdown. These studies suggest that RFC3 may have a role in neoplastic myelopoiesis by promoting the G1/S progression and its expression is regulated by CREB.

Diabetes mellitus--advances and challenges in human β-cell proliferation

The treatment of diabetes mellitus represents one of the greatest medical challenges of our era. Diabetes results from a deficiency or functional impairment of insulin-producing β cells, alone or in combination with insulin resistance. It logically follows that the replacement or regeneration of β cells should reverse the progression of diabetes and, indeed, this seems to be the case in humans and rodents. This concept has prompted attempts in many laboratories to create new human β cells using stem-cell strategies to transdifferentiate or reprogramme non-β cells into β cells or to discover small molecules or other compounds that can induce proliferation of human β cells. This latter approach has shown promise, but has also proven particularly challenging to implement. In this Review, we discuss the physiology of normal human β-cell replication, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the cell cycle in human β cells, the upstream intracellular signalling pathways that connect them to cell surface receptors on β cells, the epigenetic mechanisms that control human β-cell proliferation and unbiased approaches for discovering novel molecules that can drive human β-cell proliferation. Finally, we discuss the potential and challenges of implementing strategies that replace or regenerate β cells.

Potential roles of GPR120 and its agonists in the management of diabetes

Free fatty acids (FFAs) serve not only as nutrients that provide energy but also as extracellular signaling molecules that manipulate intracellular physiological events through FFA receptors (FFARs) such as FFAR4. FFAR4 is also known as G-protein coupled receptor 120 (GPR120). The main role of GPR120 is to elicit FFA regulation on metabolism homeostasis. GPR120 agonism correlates with prevention of the occurrence and development of metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. GPR120 activation directly or indirectly inhibits inflammation, modulates hormone secretion from the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas, and regulates lipid and/or glucose metabolism in adipose, liver, and muscle tissues, which may help prevent obesity and diabetes. This review summarizes recent advances in physiological roles of GPR120 in preventing insulin resistance and protecting pancreatic islet function, and examines how resident GPR120 in the pancreas may be involved in modulating pancreatic islet function.

Cytoplasmic-nuclear trafficking of G1/S cell cycle molecules and adult human β-cell replication: a revised model of human β-cell G1/S control

Harnessing control of human β-cell proliferation has proven frustratingly difficult. Most G1/S control molecules, generally presumed to be nuclear proteins in the human β-cell, are in fact constrained to the cytoplasm. Here, we asked whether G1/S molecules might traffic into and out of the cytoplasmic compartment in association with activation of cell cycle progression. Cdk6 and cyclin D3 were used to drive human β-cell proliferation and promptly translocated into the nucleus in association with proliferation. In contrast, the cell cycle inhibitors p15, p18, and p19 did not alter their location, remaining cytoplasmic. Conversely, p16, p21, and p27 increased their nuclear frequency. In contrast once again, p57 decreased its nuclear frequency. Whereas proliferating β-cells contained nuclear cyclin D3 and cdk6, proliferation generally did not occur in β-cells that contained nuclear cell cycle inhibitors, except p21. Dynamic cytoplasmic-nuclear trafficking of cdk6 was confirmed using green fluorescent protein-tagged cdk6 and live cell imaging. Thus, we provide novel working models describing the control of cell cycle progression in the human β-cell. In addition to known obstacles to β-cell proliferation, cytoplasmic-to-nuclear trafficking of G1/S molecules may represent an obstacle as well as a therapeutic opportunity for human β-cell expansion.

Human pancreatic β-cell G1/S molecule cell cycle atlas

Expansion of pancreatic β-cells is a key goal of diabetes research, yet induction of adult human β-cell replication has proven frustratingly difficult. In part, this reflects a lack of understanding of cell cycle control in the human β-cell. Here, we provide a comprehensive immunocytochemical "atlas" of G1/S control molecules in the human β-cell. This atlas reveals that the majority of these molecules, previously known to be present in islets, are actually present in the β-cell. More importantly, and in contrast to anticipated results, the human β-cell G1/S atlas reveals that almost all of the critical G1/S cell cycle control molecules are located in the cytoplasm of the quiescent human β-cell. Indeed, the only nuclear G1/S molecules are the cell cycle inhibitors, pRb, p57, and variably, p21: none of the cyclins or cdks necessary to drive human β-cell proliferation are present in the nuclear compartment. This observation may provide an explanation for the refractoriness of human β-cells to proliferation. Thus, in addition to known obstacles to human β-cell proliferation, restriction of G1/S molecules to the cytoplasm of the human β-cell represents an unanticipated obstacle to therapeutic human β-cell expansion.

Treatment of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice by Toll-like receptor 2 tolerance in conjunction with dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibition

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS

We have shown that chronic administration of the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) agonist Pam3CSK(4) prevents diabetes in NOD mice by inducing TLR2 tolerance of dendritic cells (DCs). We have also reported that a novel dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) inhibitor, DA-1229, could increase beta cell mass. Here we investigated whether a combination of DPP4 inhibition, with beneficial effects on beta cell mass, and TLR2 tolerisation, protecting beta cells from autoimmune destruction, could treat a model of established type 1 diabetes.

METHODS

Diabetic NOD mice were treated with 100 μg Pam3CSK(4), administered three times a week for 3 weeks, in combination with feeding with chow containing 0.3% DA-1229. Beta cell mass and proliferation were studied by immunohistochemistry. DC tolerance was assessed by studying diabetogenic CD4(+) T cell priming after adoptive transfer and expression of costimulatory molecules on DCs by flow cytometry.

RESULTS

We observed reversal of diabetes in NOD mice by Pam3CSK(4)+DA-1229 but not by either Pam3CSK(4) or DA-1229 alone. Beta cell mass and the number of proliferating beta cells were significantly enhanced by Pam3CSK(4)+DA-1229, but not by either Pam3CSK(4) or DA-1229 alone. Diabetogenic T cell priming by DCs and upregulation of costimulatory molecules after ex vivo stimulation were attenuated in mice treated with Pam3CSK(4)+DA-1229, indicating DC tolerance. The relative proportions of CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells, B cells, DCs, macrophages and regulatory T cells, and T-helper polarisation were unchanged by treatment with Pam3CSK(4)+DA-1229.

CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION

These data demonstrate that a combination of TLR2 tolerisation and DPP4 inhibition can reverse early-onset diabetes in NOD mice.

Cyclin D2 is essential for the compensatory beta-cell hyperplastic response to insulin resistance in rodents

OBJECTIVE

A major determinant of the progression from insulin resistance to the development of overt type 2 diabetes is a failure to mount an appropriate compensatory beta-cell hyperplastic response to maintain normoglycemia. We undertook the present study to directly explore the significance of the cell cycle protein cyclin D2 in the expansion of beta-cell mass in two different models of insulin resistance.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We created compound knockouts by crossing mice deficient in cyclin D2 (D2KO) with either the insulin receptor substrate 1 knockout (IRS1KO) mice or the insulin receptor liver-specific knockout mice (LIRKO), neither of which develops overt diabetes on its own because of robust compensatory beta-cell hyperplasia. We phenotyped the double knockouts and used RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry to examine beta-cell mass.

RESULTS

Both compound knockouts, D2KO/LIRKO and D2KO/IRS1KO, exhibited insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia and an absence of compensatory beta-cell hyperplasia. However, the diabetic D2KO/LIRKO group rapidly succumbed early compared with a relatively normal lifespan in the glucose-intolerant D2KO/IRS1KO mice.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides direct genetic evidence that cyclin D2 is essential for the expansion of beta-cell mass in response to a spectrum of insulin resistance and points to the cell-cycle protein as a potential therapeutic target that can be harnessed for preventing and curing type 2 diabetes.

Diet-induced gene expression of isolated pancreatic islets from a polygenic mouse model of the metabolic syndrome

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS

Numerous new genes have recently been identified in genome-wide association studies for type 2 diabetes. Most are highly expressed in beta cells and presumably play important roles in their function. However, these genes account for only a small proportion of total risk and there are likely to be additional candidate genes not detected by current methodology. We therefore investigated islets from the polygenic New Zealand mouse (NZL) model of diet-induced beta cell dysfunction to identify novel genes and pathways that may play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes.

METHODS

NZL mice were fed a diabetogenic high-fat diet (HF) or a diabetes-protective carbohydrate-free HF diet (CHF). Pancreatic islets were isolated by laser capture microdissection (LCM) and subjected to genome-wide transcriptome analyses.

RESULTS

In the prediabetic state, 2,109 islet transcripts were differentially regulated (>1.5-fold) between HF and CHF diets. Of the genes identified, 39 (e.g. Cacna1d, Chd2, Clip2, Igf2bp2, Dach1, Tspan8) correlated with data from the Diabetes Genetics Initiative and Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium genome-wide scans for type 2 diabetes, thus validating our approach. HF diet induced early changes in gene expression associated with increased cell-cycle progression, proliferation and differentiation of islet cells, and oxidative stress (e.g. Cdkn1b, Tmem27, Pax6, Cat, Prdx4 and Txnip). In addition, pathway analysis identified oxidative phosphorylation as the predominant gene-set that was significantly upregulated in response to the diabetogenic HF diet.

CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION

We demonstrated that LCM of pancreatic islet cells in combination with transcriptional profiling can be successfully used to identify novel candidate genes for diabetes. Our data strongly implicate glucose-induced oxidative stress in disease progression.

Contamination with E1A-positive wild-type adenovirus accounts for species-specific stimulation of islet cell proliferation by CCK: a cautionary note

We have previously reported that adenovirus-mediated expression of preprocholecystokin (CCK) stimulates human and mouse islet cell proliferation. In follow-up studies, we became concerned that the CCK adenovirus might have been contaminated with a wild-type E1A-containing adenovirus. Here we show conclusively that the proliferative effects reported in the original paper in mouse and human islets were not due to CCK expression but rather to a contaminating E1A-expressing wild-type adenovirus. We also show, however, that CCK expression does have a proliferative effect in rat islets. We hope that our report of the steps taken to detect the wild-type virus contamination, and purification of the contributing viral stocks, will be helpful to other investigators, and that our experience will serve as a cautionary tale for use of adenovirus vectors, especially for studies on cellular replication.