Translocation inhibitors define specificity of protein kinase C isoenzymes in pancreatic beta-cells

The protein kinase C (PKC) family consists of 11 isoenzymes. Following activation, each isoenzyme translocates and binds to a specific receptor for activated C kinase (RACK) (Mochly-Rosen, D. (1995) Science 268, 247-251) that provides an anchoring site in close proximity to the isoenzyme's specific substrate. Pancreatic islet cells contain at least six PKC isoenzymes (Knutson, K. L., and Hoenig, M. (1994) Endocrinology 135, 881-886). Although PKC activation enhances insulin release, the specific function of each isoenzyme is unknown. Here we show that following stimulation with glucose, alphaPKC and epsilonPKC translocate to the cell's periphery, while deltaPKC and zetaPKC translocate to perinuclear sites. betaC2-4, a peptide derived from the RACK1-binding site in the C2 domain of betaPKC, inhibits translocation of alphaPKC and reduces insulin response to glucose. Likewise, epsilonV1-2, an epsilonPKC-derived peptide containing the site for its specific RACK, inhibits translocation of epsilonPKC and reduces insulin response to glucose. Inhibition of islet-glucose metabolism with mannoheptulose blocks translocation of both alphaPKC and epsilonPKC and diminishes insulin response to glucose while calcium-free buffer inhibits translocation of alphaPKC but not epsilonPKC and lowers insulin response by 50%. These findings illustrate the unique ability of specific translocation inhibitors to elucidate the isoenzyme-specific functions of PKC in complex signal transduction pathways.

Reduced early and late phase insulin response to glucose in isolated spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) islets: a defective link between glycolysis and adenylate cyclase

The spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) exhibits low insulin responsiveness to glucose with a nearly absent early phase release. The alternative fuel-secretagogue glyceraldehyde (10 mmol/l) produced a maximal early insulin response in rat islets but failed to affect early response in Acomys; however, it potentiated the late insulin response in both species alike. Glucagon (1.5 mumol/l) potentiated the early insulin response to intermediate (8.3 mmol/l) glucose in rat and Acomys islets by two- and four-fold, respectively. Glucose doubled cyclic AMP levels in rat islets but no significant response was noted in Acomys islets. Isobutylmethylxanthine (0.1 mmol/l) and forskolin (25 mumol/l) caused a significant rise in islet cyclic AMP levels in both types of islets; however, neither agent restored the glucose stimulation of cyclic AMP in spiny mouse islets. Forskolin and isobutylmethylxanthine potentiated early and late phase insulin release in both species; however, neither augmented the early response in the Acomys to the degree observed in rat islets. Thus: (1) A deficient link exists in Acomys between glycolysis and subsequent signals. (2) These islets contain a glucose-insensitive adenylate cyclase. (3) The early insulin response may be potentiated by direct activation of adenylate cyclase. (4) The glucose effects on early and late phase insulin release are probably mediated by distinct pathways. (5) In the spiny mouse the signals mediating the early response are deranged to a greater extent than those activating the late phase insulin release.

Correction of diabetic pattern of insulin release from islets of the spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) by glucose priming in vitro

Insulin release kinetics were studied in perifused islets of Langerhans, isolated from mildly hyperglycaemic and from normoglycaemic spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus), a rodent predisposed to develop spontaneously non-ketotic diabetes. In both groups, insulin response to glucose (16.7 mmol/l) was delayed in comparison with that of rat islets, the release kinetics being analogous to that of human Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. Thirty min priming of the isolated Acomys islets with glucose (16.7 mmol/l) resulted in potentiation of the insulin release to a second stimulation. The degree of potentiation decreased exponentially with the time interval between stimulations, showing a t1/2 of 18 min. Induction of potentiation by glucose was time-dependent, giving a maximal effect after 20 min of priming. In addition to overall amplification of the insulin response, priming with glucose accelerated markedly the initial release rates, correcting the dynamics of the response. We conclude that: (1) decreased and delayed insulin secretion is found in Acomys cahirinus before the development of hyperglycaemia; (2) induction of time-dependent potentiation in the islet by priming with glucose corrects the diabetic-type dynamics of insulin release; (3) therefore the deficient insulin release of Acomys is of a functional nature, the mechanism of potentiation bypassing the defect; (4) since insulin release in Acomys resembles that in prediabetic and diabetic man, similar conclusions might apply to the islet dysfunction in Type 2 diabetes.