Beta-cell Line Research Articles

Investigating the Role of 17-Beta Estradiol in the Regulation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) in Pancreatic Beta Cells.

Diabetes mellitus is clinically defined by chronic hyperglycemia. Sex differences in the presentation and outcome of diabetes exist with premenopausal women having a reduced risk of developing diabetes, relative to men, or women after menopause. Accumulating evidence shows a protective role of estrogens, specifically 17-beta estradiol, in the maintenance of pancreatic beta cell health; however, the mechanisms underlying this protection are still unknown. To elucidate these potential mechanisms, we used a pancreatic beta cell line (BTC6) and a mouse model of hyperglycemia-induced atherosclerosis, the ApoE-/-:Ins2+/Akita mouse, exhibiting sexual dimorphism in glucose regulation. In this study we hypothesize that 17-beta estradiol protects pancreatic beta cells by modulating the unfolded protein response (UPR) in response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. We observed that ovariectomized female and male ApoE-/-:Ins2+/Akita mice show significantly increased expression of apoptotic UPR markers. Sham operated female and ovariectomized female ApoE-/-:Ins2+/Akita mice supplemented with exogenous 17-beta estradiol increased the expression of adaptive UPR markers compared to non-supplemented ovariectomized female ApoE-/-:Ins2+/Akita mice. These findings were consistent to what was observed in cultured BTC6 cells, suggesting that 17-beta estradiol may protect pancreatic beta cells by repressing the apoptotic UPR and enhancing the adaptive UPR activation in response to pancreatic ER stress.

Renewable Human Cell Model for Type 1 Diabetes Research: EndoC-βH5/HUVEC Coculture Spheroids.

In vitro drug screening for type 1 diabetes therapies has largely been conducted on human organ donor islets for proof of efficacy. While native islets are the ultimate target of these drugs (either in situ or for transplantation), significant benefit can be difficult to ascertain due to the highly heterogeneous nature of individual donors and the overall scarcity of human islets for research. We present an in vitro coculture model based on immortalized insulin-producing beta-cell lines with human endothelial cells in 3D spheroids that aims to recapitulate the islet morphology in an effort towards developing a standardized cell model for in vitro diabetes research. Human insulin-producing immortalized EndoC-βH5 cells are cocultured with human endothelial cells in varying ratios to evaluate 3D cell culture models for type 1 diabetes research. Insulin secretion, metabolic activity, live cell fluorescence staining, and gene expression assays were used to compare the viability and functionality of spheroids composed of 100% beta-cells, 1 : 1 beta-cell/endothelial, and 1 : 3 beta-cell/endothelial. Monoculture and βH5/HUVEC cocultures formed compact spheroids within 7 days, with average diameter ~140 μm. This pilot study indicated that stimulated insulin release from 0 to 20 mM glucose increased from ~8-fold for monoculture and 1 : 1 coculture spheroids to over 20-fold for 1 : 3 EndoC-βH5/HUVEC spheroids. Metabolic activity was also ~12% higher in the 1 : 3 EndoC-βH5/HUVEC group compared to other groups. Stimulating monoculture beta-cell spheroids with 20 mM glucose +1 μg/mL glycine-modified INGAP-P increased the insulin stimulation index ~2-fold compared to glucose alone. Considering their availability and consistent phenotype, EndoC-βH5-based spheroids present a useful 3D cell model for in vitro testing and drug screening applications.

Paired box 6 gene delivery preserves beta cells and improves islet transplantation efficacy

Loss of pancreatic beta cells is the central feature of all forms of diabetes. Current therapies fail to halt the declined beta cell mass. Thus, strategies to preserve beta cells are imperatively needed. In this study, we identified paired box 6 (PAX6) as a critical regulator of beta cell survival. Under diabetic conditions, the human beta cell line EndoC‐βH1, db/db mouse and human islets displayed dampened insulin and incretin signalings and reduced beta cell survival, which were alleviated by PAX6 overexpression. Adeno‐associated virus (AAV)‐mediated PAX6 overexpression in beta cells of streptozotocin‐induced diabetic mice and db/db mice led to a sustained maintenance of glucose homeostasis. AAV‐PAX6 transduction in human islets reduced islet graft loss and improved glycemic control after transplantation into immunodeficient diabetic mice. Our study highlights a previously unappreciated role for PAX6 in beta cell survival and raises the possibility that ex vivo PAX6 gene transfer into islets prior to transplantation might enhance islet graft function and transplantation outcome.

Targets for pollutants in rat and human pancreatic beta-cells: The effect of prolonged exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexane isomers on the expression of function- and survival-related proteins

Decades after most countries banned hexachlorocyclohexane, HCH isomers still pollute the environment. Many studies described HCH as a pro-diabetic factor; nevertheless, the effect of HCH isomers on pancreatic beta-cells remains unexplored. This study investigated the effects of a one-month exposure to α-HCH, β-HCH, and γ-HCH on protein expression in human (NES2Y) and rat (INS1E) pancreatic beta-cell lines. α-HCH and γ-HCH increased proinsulin and insulin levels in INS1E cells, while β-HCH showed the opposite trend. α-HCH altered the expression of PKA, ATF3, and PLIN2. β-HCH affected the expression of GLUT1, GLUT2, PKA, ATF3, p-eIF2α, ATP-CL, and PLIN2. γ-HCH altered the expression of PKA, ATF3, PLIN2, PLIN5, and IDH1. From the tested proteins, PKA, ATF3, and PLIN-2 were the most sensitive to HCH exposure and have the potential to be used as biomarkers.

SAT063 Dopaminergic Agonist Cabergoline Inhibits Autophagic Flux In Beta Pancreatic Cells

Abstract Disclosure: L.F. Mendez: None. L. Etcheverry Boneo: None. D. Becu-Villalobos: None. E. Sorianello: None. Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation process necessary for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis, which is based on constantly removing ubiquitinated proteins and dysfunctional organelles that are eventually toxic to the cell. Since alteration of this process in pancreatic beta cells can lead to the development of diabetes, autophagy modulators arise as interesting therapeutic compounds for the treatment of this prevalent human pathology. Previous studies indicate that activation of the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) alters autophagy in several cell types. In this context, we aimed at determining the effect of D2R activation by its agonist Cabergoline (CAB) on the autophagic process in pancreatic beta cells. To that end, we stimulated the murine pancreatic beta cell line MIN6B1 with 10-5 M CAB for 1, 6 and 24h to evaluate the kinetics of autophagic vesicle formation. Additionally, 10-5 M CAB in the presence or absence of Chloroquine (CQ), an inhibitor of late stages of the autophagy process, was used to study the autophagic flux. Using Western Blot and immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy, the autophagy markers LC3 (autophagic vesicle marker) and p62/SQSTM1 (autophagy cargo receptor and degradation substrate) were analyzed. CAB increased LC3 nucleation as a function of stimulation time, showing significant differences relative to the control after 6h (one-way repeated measures ANOVA p=0.0038; Tukey: Control vs CAB6h p<0.05, vs CAB24h p<0.01). Moreover, CAB significant increased p62/SQSTM1 levels after 24h of stimulation (one-way repeated measures ANOVA: p=0.0157; Tukey: Control vs CAB24h p<0.05). When studying the effect of CAB on the autophagic flux, we observed that CQ significantly increased LC3 and p62/SQSTM1 levels at 24h of incubation (two-way repeated measures ANOVA (CQ and CAB): for LC3: interaction p<0.05, Tukey: CQ vs Control p<0.0001; for p62/SQSTM1: CQ pretreatment effect p<0.05), as expected. Interestingly, CAB diminished the accumulation of LC3 (Test-T Delta (CQ-Control) vs Delta (CQCAB-CAB): p=0.04) and p62/SQSTM1 (Test-T Delta (CQ-Control) vs Delta (CQCAB-CAB): p=0.01) elicited by CQ at 24h. We conclude that CAB is able to increase autophagic vesicle formation and, in addition, to decrease autophagic flux after 24h of stimulation in MIN6B1 pancreatic beta cells. This work was funded by CONICET, ANPCyT, Fundación René Barón and Fundación Williams. Presentation: Saturday, June 17, 2023

401.4: Sustained hyperoxic exposure decreases cell viability and reduces cell growth in pancreatic beta cell lines

401.4: Sustained hyperoxic exposure decreases cell viability and reduces cell growth in pancreatic beta cell lines

Automated high-throughput, high-content 3D imaging of intact pancreatic islets.

Diabetes poses a global health crisis affecting individuals across age groups and backgrounds, with a prevalence estimate of 700 million people worldwide by 2045. Current therapeutic strategies primarily rely on insulin therapy or hypoglycemic agents, which fail to address the root cause of the disease - the loss of pancreatic insulin-producing beta-cells. Therefore, bioassays that recapitulate intact islets are needed to enable drug discovery for beta-cell replenishment, protection from beta-cell loss, and islet-cell interactions. Standard cancer insulinoma beta-cell lines MIN6 and INS-1 have been used to interrogate beta-cell metabolic pathways and function but are not suitable for studying proliferative effects. Screening using primary human/rodent intact islets offers a higher level of physiological relevance to enhance diabetes drug discovery and development. However, the 3-dimensionality of intact islets have presented challenges in developing robust, high-throughput assays to detect beta-cell proliferative effects. Established methods rely on either dissociated islet cells plated in 2D monolayer cultures for imaging or reconstituted pseudo-islets formed in round bottom plates to achieve homogeneity. These approaches have significant limitations due to the islet cell dispersion process. To address these limitations, we have developed a robust, intact ex vivo pancreatic islet bioassay in 384-well format that is capable of detecting diabetes-relevant endpoints including beta-cell proliferation, chemoprotection, and islet spatial morphometrics.

Transplantable cell-encapsulation device using a semipermeable ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer membrane in a mouse diabetic model

Cell-based therapy is an attractive approach, and encapsulation of therapeutic cells is a promising strategy because it prevents immune responses and allows transplanted cells to be retrieved in case of dysfunction. Bioartificial pancreas, in which insulin-secreting cells are encapsulated in a semipermeable membrane bag, is a new class of medical device for treating type-I diabetes. In this study, we developed a macroencapsulation device in which the pancreatic beta cell line MIN6 was encapsulated in a semipermeable bag made of an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer membrane. Invitro evaluation of ATP and insulin levels revealed that MIN6 cells grown in Matrigelwithin the device secreted insulin in response to glucose levels. Transplantation of the device lowered blood glucose levels for 30 days in diabetic mice. Histological observation revealed that MIN6 cells formed spheroids in Matrigel, and no host cells were detected within the device. Blood levels of inflammatory cytokines in the transplanted mice were similar to those in non-transplanted mice, and antibody levels in the device were lower than those in the intraperitoneal fluid. These results suggest that the semipermeable ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer membrane developed in this study is useful for cell encapsulation in cell-based therapies, including beta-cell macroencapsulation for type-1 diabetes.

Modeling islet enhancers using deep learning identifies candidate causal variants at loci associated with T2D and glycemic traits

Genetic association studies have identified hundreds of independent signals associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and related traits. Despite these successes, the identification of specific causal variants underlying a genetic association signal remains challenging. In this study, we describe a deep learning (DL) method to analyze the impact of sequence variants on enhancers. Focusing on pancreatic islets, a T2D relevant tissue, we show that our model learns islet-specific transcription factor (TF) regulatory patterns and can be used to prioritize candidate causal variants. At 101 genetic signals associated with T2D and related glycemic traits where multiple variants occur in linkage disequilibrium, our method nominates a single causal variant for each association signal, including three variants previously shown to alter reporter activity in islet-relevant cell types. For another signal associated with blood glucose levels, we biochemically test all candidate causal variants from statistical fine-mapping using a pancreatic islet beta cell line and show biochemical evidence of allelic effects on TF binding for the model-prioritized variant. To aid in future research, we publicly distribute our model and islet enhancer perturbation scores across ~67 million genetic variants. We anticipate that DL methods like the one presented in this study will enhance the prioritization of candidate causal variants for functional studies.

IFNɣ but not IFNα increases recognition of insulin defective ribosomal product-derived antigen to amplify islet autoimmunity.

The inflammatory milieu characteristic of insulitis affects translation fidelity and generates defective ribosomal products (DRiPs) that participate in autoimmune beta cell destruction in type 1 diabetes. Here, we studied the role of early innate cytokines (IFNα) and late immune adaptive events (IFNɣ) in insulin DRiP-derived peptide presentation to diabetogenic CD8+ T cells. Single-cell transcriptomics of human pancreatic islets was used to study the composition of the (immuno)proteasome. Specific inhibition of the immunoproteasome catalytic subunits was achieved using siRNA, and antigenic peptide presentation at the cell surface of the human beta cell line EndoC-βH1 was monitored using peptide-specific CD8 T cells. We found that IFNγ induces the expression of the PSMB10 transcript encoding the β2i catalytic subunit of the immunoproteasome in endocrine beta cells, revealing a critical role in insulin DRiP-derived peptide presentation to T cells. Moreover, we showed that PSMB10 is upregulated in a beta cell subset that is preferentially destroyed in the pancreases of individuals with type 1 diabetes. Our data highlight the role of the degradation machinery in beta cell immunogenicity and emphasise the need for evaluation of targeted immunoproteasome inhibitors to limit beta cell destruction in type 1 diabetes. The single-cell RNA-seq dataset is available from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) using the accession number GSE218316 ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE218316 ).

Synergistic effect of schizandrin A and DNase I knockdown on high glucose induced beta cell apoptosis by decreasing intracellular calcium concentration.

To explore the synergistic effect of deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) knockdown combined with Schizandrin A (Sch A) in protecting islet beta-cells (β-cells) from apoptosis under high-glucose (HG) conditions. The concentration of Sch A was detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). High glucose-cultured rat insulinoma beta cell line (RIN-M5F) cells were treated with Sch A and transfected with DNase I small interfering RNA (siRNA). Cell apoptosis rate and apoptosis-related protein level were examined by flow cytometry and Western blot method respectively. In addition, Na-K-adenosine triphosphatease (Na-K-ATPase) and Ca-Mg-ATPase activity, cell membrane potential, and intracellular Ca concentration was also examined respectively. Our study revealed that HG stimulation can cause a significant increase in DNase I level and cell apoptosis rate. However, Sch A combined with DNase I knockdown can significantly decrease the cell apoptosis rate and apoptosis-related protein levels such as BAX ( 0.05) and Caspase-3 ( 0.01). In addition, we also found that the combination of Sch A and DNase I knockdown can dramatically increase cell membrane potential level, Na-K-ATPase, and Ca-Mg-ATPase activity. Meanwhile, intracellular Ca concentration was also found to be significantly decreased by the synergistic effect of Sch A and DNase I knockdown. Overall, our study reveals a synergistic effect of Sch A and DNase I knockdown in protecting β-cells from HG-induced apoptosis.

1773-P: Glucocorticoid Receptor Signaling Regulates Pancreatic Beta-Cell Circadian Transcriptome and Function

Glucocorticoid (GC) signaling is an important regulator of glucose homeostasis. GC secretion also serves as an entrainment signal that coordinates circadian gene expression of peripheral circadian clocks. Pancreatic beta cells are key biological controllers of glucose homeostasis through the coordinated circadian release of insulin. However, the role of GC signaling in the regulation of beta cell circadian clocks and insulin secretion remains unknown. To address this, we first performed chromatin immunoprecipitation/sequencing (ChIP-seq) in beta cell lines (MIN6 and INS1) and identified >1,000 glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-bound regions (FDR<0.01) in response to the synthetic GC dexamethasone (DEX, 100nM). Annotation of GR-bound regions showed enrichment for pathways regulating insulin secretion and circadian rhythms. To further explore the effects of GC on circadian beta cell gene expression and function in vivo, we used C57BL/6 mice housed under either 12h/12h light-dark cycles (LD) or constant light-mediated circadian disruption (CD). Mice were subsequently administered daily intraperitoneal injections of DEX (2 mg/kg) or vehicle, designed to restore circadian secretion of GC disrupted in CD group. DEX treatment normalized circadian regulation of glucose tolerance (p<0.05 vs. vehicle) and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (p<0.05 vs vehicle) in CD group. We next utilized RNA sequencing to assess circadian transcriptional profiles in islets isolated from LD, CD, and CD + DEX mice. Consistent with previous studies, CD resulted in abrogation of circadian islet mRNA expression, whereas DEX restored circadian rhythmicity and enhanced expression of core clock genes (e.g., Bmal1, Dbp, Nr1d1) and genes regulating beta cell identity (e.g., Ins1, Nkx6.1) and insulin secretion (e.g., Gck, Irs2). These data highlight the GC/GR axis as a direct regulator of beta cell circadian gene expression, insulin secretion and glucose tolerance. Disclosure S.K.Sen: None. L.Wang: None. M.Brown: None. J.Wu: None. Z.Wei: None. A.Matveyenko: None. Funding National Institutes of Health (DK098468)

135-OR: Mapping Cis-Regulatory Programs Affecting Diabetes Risk in Pancreatic Islet Cell Types Using Single-Cell Multimodal Profiling

Genetic variants influencing type 1 diabetes (T1D) risk identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are primarily non-coding and affect cis-regulatory element (cRE) activity in specific cell types. A more detailed understanding of cell type-specific cis-regulatory programs in the pancreas is therefore crucial for deciphering the functional impact of T1D risk. Recently developed assays that generate multimodal single nucleus RNA-seq (snRNA-seq) and ATAC-seq (snATAC-seq) profiles from the same cell enable high-resolution mapping of cis-regulatory programs in specific cell types. We generated deeply sequenced data from 28 nondiabetic pancreatic islet samples from the Alberta Diabetes Institute IsletCore using 10x multiome assays. After extensive quality control and filtering, we clustered multimodal profiles from 174,819 cells and identified ten major cell types. For several cell types we identified evidence of heterogeneous sub-populations; for example, in beta cells there were six sub-populations corresponding to cellular states associated with insulin secretion, stress response, and others. We identified 263,223 cREs across all cell types and developed a novel method to predict target genes of cREs based on the correlation of multimodal profiles across single cells. In beta cells, there were 122,352 cRE-target gene links involving 16,907 unique genes. We mapped chromatin accessibility quantitative trait loci (caQTLs) for cREs in each cell type and identified a total of 14,535 caQTLs at FDR<.10. Finally, we annotated T1D risk variants from high-resolution fine-mapping of 136 T1D signals with cRE-target gene links and caQTLs. At 27 T1D signals including at the INS, MAPT, and DLK1 loci, variants affecting chromatin accessibility were linked to putative target genes in beta cells suggesting mechanisms of action at these loci. Experimental follow up of variant activity at these loci using genome editing in beta cell lines is ongoing. Disclosure H. Mummey: None. W. Elison: None. K. Korgaonkar: None. Y.S. Lee: None. J.M. Newsome Ashmus: None. P. Benaglio: Employee; Shoreline Biosciences. M.T. Miller: None. J.E. Manning Fox: None. A.L. Gloyn: Other Relationship; Genentech, Inc., Roche Pharmaceuticals. P. MacDonald: None. S. Preissl: None. K.J. Gaulton: Stock/Shareholder; Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. Consultant; Genentech, Inc. Stock/Shareholder; Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. Funding National Institutes of Health (HG012059, DK105554, DK122607, DK114650)

760-P: Discovery of GSBR-1290, a Highly Potent, Orally Available, Novel Small Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist

Peptidic glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are established treatments for patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. However, the need for injection and cold chain storage may limit the utility of most peptidic GLP-1RAs. An oral small molecule GLP-1RA that offers enhanced bioavailability and stability could be more convenient and accessible to patients. Here we report the discovery of GSBR-1290, a highly potent, orally available, novel small molecule GLP-1RA and the characterization of its in vitro and in vivo pharmacology profiles. GSBR-1290 is a small molecule GLP-1RA with high binding affinity to human GLP-1R. GSBR-1290 strongly activated GLP-1R Gαs cAMP pathway without inducing measurable β-arrestin recruitment signaling, which indicates it is a fully biased agonist. The insulin secretion stimulation effect of GSBR-1290 was evaluated in a functional human pancreatic beta cell line, in which GSBR-1290 showed dose dependent induction of insulin secretion. The in vivo efficacy of GSBR-1290 on insulin secretion, glucose control and food intake were evaluated in nonhuman primates (NHPs). In an acute intravenous glucose tolerance test (ivGTT), a single dose of GSBR-1290 strongly induced insulin secretion and glucose clearance. In a repeated dosing study, GSBR-1290 administered orally once daily for 7-day demonstrated robust increase in insulin secretion and glucose clearance in ivGTT and a dose dependent reduction of food intake and body weight. Overall, GSBR-1290 demonstrated potent in vivo efficacy in stimulating insulin secretion, improving glucose tolerance, and reducing food intake and body weight. In conclusion, GSBR-1290 is a highly potent, orally available, fully biased GLP-1RA. Human clinical trials are underway to further evaluate GSBR-1290 as a potential therapy for T2DM and obesity. Disclosure T.Mao: Employee; Structuretx. X.Lin: Employee; Structure Therapeutics. Q.Meng: Employee; Beijing Stonewise Technology, Structure Therapeutics Inc. H.Zhang: Employee; Structuretx. J.J.Zhang: Employee; Structure Therapeutics Inc. S.Shi: Employee; Structure Therapeutics Inc. Z.Guan: Employee; Structure Therapeutics. X.Jiang: Employee; Structure Therapeutics. F.Zhang: Employee; Structure Therapeutics, Eternity BioSciences, Stock/Shareholder; Novo Nordisk. H.Lei: Employee; Structure Therapeutics.

1764-P: Assessing Gene Expression Profile and Insulin Secretion in Human Beta Cells (EndoC-BH3) under Glucose Exposure

Maternal diabetes is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes in the offspring, and in utero exposure to high glucose has been shown to affect pancreatic beta cell development in animal models. However, the developmental stage and specific genes which underlie these effects in humans are unknown. We aimed to understand the consequences of high glucose on the fetal pancreas by treating a human beta cell line derived from fetal pancreas, EndoC-BH3, with high, medium and normal glucose (30, 15 and 5.5mM respectively) for 3 weeks during proliferation and maturation and comparing gene expression using whole transcriptome analysis. The top differentially expressed transcripts (P<10−4) and the most abundant transcripts (Log2 unit>10.5) were validated by real-time RT-PCR. KEGG analyses of the top 500 differentially expressed transcripts identified the metabolic pathway as the top pathway. Among individual genes, high glucose exposure during the maturation upregulated EGR1 (58.6-fold), BIRC5 (37.6-fold), GPBAR1 (15.4-fold), G6PC2 (11.8-fold), CHRNA (4.8-fold), GCK (2.7-fold), INS (2.0-fold), CMIP (1.9-fold) and CHGA (1.4-fold) as compared to normal glucose exposure. EGR1 encodes early-growth response 1, a transcription factor that enhances insulin gene expression, while BIRC5 encodes an apoptotic inhibitor that plays a role in beta cell proliferation. High glucose exposure during the proliferation identified similar differentially expressed genes; however, the changes were more modest as compared with the maturation. Methylation has also been implicated in conveying risk for diabetes due to glucose exposure and several key DNA demethylation enzymes; TET1, 2, 3, were also moderately upregulated. Assessment of the effects of glucose exposure on insulin secretion and total insulin content is ongoing. Our data suggest that short term exposure to high glucose may stimulate expression of a set of genes that promote beta cell proliferation and insulin expression and secretion. Disclosure Y.L.Muller: None. K.Wiedrich: None. J.Sutherland: Stock/Shareholder; Pfizer Inc., Bristol Myers. D.Jones: None. L.Baier: None.

1780-P: Assessment of Toll-Like Receptor Expression and Signaling in Islets under Metabolic and Inflammatory Conditions

Pancreatic beta cells undergoing metabolic and inflammatory stress express islet-derived cytokines or “isletokines” which can induce immune cell infiltration and cellular damage leading to loss of islet cell function. We and others have shown that toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 in islets can mediate metabolic and inflammatory response to DAMPs under diabetic conditions and in islet cell transplantation. Here we show that metabolic and inflammatory conditions result in induction and suppression of expression of multiple members of the TLR family in both MIN6 beta-cell line and mouse islets. Among upregulated TLRs, the endosomal nucleic acid-sensing TLR3 was most highly induced (up to 5 fold) in response to cytokine cocktail IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma in the presence of high glucose. Induction of TLR3 expression was blocked by PI3 kinase inhibitor wortmannin and unaffected by mTOR inhibitor rampamycin, calcineurin inhibitor FK506, and NF-κB inhibitor BMS345541. Immunoblot analyses confirmed that TLR3 but not TLR4 protein expression was wortmannin sensitive. These data indicate that TLR3 is upregulated by PI3 kinase signaling in islet beta cells in response to inflammatory conditions. As the endosomal TLR3 signaling is known to sense nucleic acids as well as influence glucose homeostasis, we propose that beta cells may sense DNA damage to induce isletokines to mediate local inflammatory responses during metabolic and inflammatory stress. Further investigations are warranted to decipher signaling pathways and molecular targets of TLR3 signaling to alleviate islet inflammation and improve beta-cell function. Disclosure J.D.Mattke: None. B.Naziruddin: None. M.C.Lawrence: None.

Identification of Potential Insulinotropic Cytotoxins from Indian Cobra Snake Venom Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Analyzing Their Possible Interactions with Potassium Channel Receptors by In Silico Studies.

Snake venoms are a potential source of bioactive peptides, which have multiple therapeutic properties in treating diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders. Among bioactive peptides, cytotoxins (CTXs) and neurotoxins are low molecular weight proteins belonging to the three-finger-fold toxins (3FTxs) family composed of two β sheets that are stabilized by four to five conserved disulfide bonds containing 58-72 amino acid residues. These are highly abundant in snake venom and are predicted to have insulinotropic activities. In this study, the CTXs were purified from Indian cobra snake venom using preparative HPLC and characterized using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) TOF-MS/MS. Further SDS-PAGE analysis confirmed the presence of low molecular weight cytotoxic proteins. The CTXs in fractions A and B exhibited dose-dependent insulinotropic activity from 0.001 to 10µM using rat pancreatic beta-cell lines (RIN-5F) in the ELISA. Nateglinide and repaglinide are synthetic small-molecule drugs that control sugar levels in the blood in type 2 diabetes, which were used as a positive control in ELISA. Concluded that purified CTXs have insulinotropic activity, and there is a scope to use these proteins as small molecules to stimulate insulinotropic activities. At this stage, the focus is on the efficiency of the cytotoxins to induce insulin. Additional work is ongoing on animal models to see the extent of the beneficial effects and efficiency to cure diabetes using streptozotocin-induced models.

Guf1 overexpression improves pancreatic β cell functions in type 2 diabetes mellitus rats with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery.

The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a one-of-a-kind treatment among contemporary bariatric surgical procedures, and its therapeutic effects for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are satisfactory. The present study performed isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis identifying different proteomics between T2DM rats with or without Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery, and GTP binding elongation factor GUF1 (Guf1) was first found to be significantly upregulated in rats from the T2DM plus RYGB group. In the cellular lipotoxicity model induced by palmitic acid stimulation of rat pancreatic beta cell line, INS-1, palmitic acid treatment inhibited cell viability, suppressed GSIS, promoted lipid droplet formation, promoted cell apoptosis, and induced mitochondrial membrane potential loss. The effects of palmitic acid on INS-1 cells mentioned above could be partially eliminated by Guf1 overexpression but aggravated by Guf1 knockdown. Last, under palmitic acid treatment, Guf1 overexpression promotes the PI3K/Akt and NF-κB signaling but inhibits the AMPK activation. Guf1 is upregulated in T2DM rats who received RYGB, and Guf1 overexpression improves cell mitochondrial functions, increases cell proliferation, inhibits cell apoptosis, and promotes cell functions in palmitic acid-treated β cells.

Aberrant Expression of Rest4 Gene in Low-Functioning Pancreatic Beta Cell Line.

Repressor element-1 silencing transcription factor (Rest) is not expressed in pancreatic beta cells and neuronal cells. However, Rest4, a truncated form of Rest, is expressed in high passaged MIN6 (HP-MIN6) cells, a pancreatic beta cell line that lost glucose-responsive insulin secretion. Rest4 is also expressed in injured MIN6 cells and isolated islets. Herein, the forced expression of dominant negative form of Rest in HP-MIN6 cells was subjected to microarray analysis of gene expression to investigate the role of Rest4 gene in MIN6 cells. Furthermore, the forced expression of Rest4 gene in MIN6 cells was subjected to microarray analysis of gene expression to investigate the function of Rest4 in normal insulin-producing cells. The results showed that Rest4 inhibits cell proliferation and DNA and RNA metabolism and stimulates secretory mechanisms and nervous system gene expression. These findings suggest that Rest4 may act defensively against cellular injury in pancreatic beta cells.

Pancreatic microexons regulate islet function and glucose homeostasis.

Pancreatic islets control glucose homeostasis by the balanced secretion of insulin and other hormones, and their abnormal function causes diabetes or hypoglycaemia. Here we uncover a conserved programme of alternative microexons included in mRNAs of islet cells, particularly in genes involved in vesicle transport and exocytosis. Islet microexons (IsletMICs) are regulated by the RNA binding protein SRRM3 and represent a subset of the larger neural programme that are particularly sensitive to SRRM3 levels. Both SRRM3 and IsletMICs are induced by elevated glucose levels, and depletion of SRRM3 in human and rat beta cell lines and mouse islets, or repression of particular IsletMICs using antisense oligonucleotides, leads to inappropriate insulin secretion. Consistently, mice harbouring mutations in Srrm3 display defects in islet cell identity and function, leading to hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia. Importantly, human genetic variants that influence SRRM3 expression and IsletMIC inclusion in islets are associated with fasting glucose variation and type 2 diabetes risk. Taken together, our data identify a conserved microexon programme that regulates glucose homeostasis.