FACS-purified Beta Cells Research Articles

LC–MS/MS identification of doublecortin as abundant beta cell-selective protein discharged by damaged beta cells in vitro

There is a clinical need for plasma tests that can directly detect injury to pancreatic beta cells in type 1 diabetes. Such tests require biomarkers that are abundantly and selectively released into plasma by damaged beta cells. We combined LC-MS/MS proteomics and tissue-comparative transcriptomics of FACS-purified beta cells for bottom-up identification of candidate markers. Less than 10% of 467 proteins detected in beta cells showed endocrine-enriched expression. One surprising candidate was the neuronal migration marker doublecortin: in situ analysis revealed uniform doublecortin expression in the cytoplasm of all beta cells. Western blotting and real-time PCR confirmed its strong beta cell-selectivity outside the brain and its high molar abundance, indicating promising biomarker properties in comparison to GAD65, a more established marker of beta cell injury. DCX potential was validated in vitro: chemically-induced necrosis of rat and human beta cells led to a discharge of intracellular doublecortin into the extracellular space, proportionate to the amount of injured cells, and similar to GAD65. In vivo, recombinant DCX showed favorable pharmacokinetic properties, with a half-life in plasma of around 3h. Combined, our findings provide first proof-of-principle for doublecortin as biomarker for beta cell injury in vitro, advocating its further validation as biomarker in vivo.

Malic enzyme is present in mouse islets and modulates insulin secretion

The pyruvate-malate shuttle is a metabolic cycle in pancreatic beta cells and is important for beta cell function. Cytosolic malic enzyme (ME) carries out an essential step in the shuttle by converting malate to pyruvate and generating NADPH. In rat islets the pyruvate-malate shuttle may regulate insulin secretion and it has been shown to play a critical role in adaptation to obesity and insulin resistance. However, ME has not been demonstrated in mouse islets and three reports indicate that mouse islets contain no ME activity. If mouse islets lack ME, rat and mouse islets must regulate insulin secretion by different mechanisms. We measured ME activity by a fluorometric enzymatic assay and Me mRNA by real-time PCR. ME activity was also measured in streptozotocin-treated mouse islets. FACS-purified beta cells were obtained from MIP-GFP mouse islets, agouti-L obese mouse islets and mouse beta cell line MIN-6. Insulin secretion and NADPH/NADP(+) ratios were measured in Me siRNA-treated beta cells. ME activity and Me mRNA were present in C57BL/6 mouse islets. ME activity was reduced in streptozotocin-treated mouse islets. ME activity was also measurable in FACS-purified mouse beta cells. In addition, ME activity was significantly increased in obese agouti-L mouse islets and the mouse MIN-6 cell line. Me siRNA inhibited ME activity and reduced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and also inhibited NADPH products. Mouse islets contain ME, which plays a significant role in regulating insulin secretion.

Expression of Progenitor Cell Markers During Expansion of Sorted Human Pancreatic Beta Cells

Functional pancreatic beta cell mass is dynamic and although fully differentiated, beta cells are capable of reentering the cell cycle upon appropriate stimuli. Stimulating regeneration-competent cells in situ is clearly the most desirable way to restore damaged tissue. Regeneration by dedifferentiation and transdifferentiation is a potential source of cells exhibiting a more developmentally immature phenotype and a wide differentiation potential. In this context and to gain a better understanding of the transformation induced in human beta cells during forced in vitro expansion, we focused on identifying differences in gene expression along with phenotypical transformation between proliferating and quiescent human beta cells. FACS-purified beta cells from three different human pancreata were cultured during 3-4 months (8-10 subcultures) on HTB-9 cell matrix with hepatocyte growth factor. Gene expression profiling was performed on cells from each subculture on "in-house" pancreas-specific microarrays consisting of 218 genes and concomitant morphological transformations were studied by immunocytochemistry. Immunocytochemical studies indicated a shift from epithelial to neuroepithelial cell phenotype, including progenitor cell features such as protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5), Reg, vimentin, and neurogenin 3 protein expression. The expression of 49 genes was downregulated, including several markers of endocrine differentiation while 76 were induced by cell expansion including several markers of progenitor cells. Their pattern also argues for the transdifferentiation of beta cells into progenitor cells, demonstrating neuroepithelial features and overexpressing both PBX1, a homeodomain protein that can bind as a heterodimer with PDX1 and could switch the nature of its transcriptional activity, and neurogenin 3, a key factor for the generation of endocrine islet cells. Our study of the machinery that regulates human beta cell expansion and dedifferentiation may help elucidate some of the critical genes that control the formation of adult pancreatic progenitor cells and hence design targets to modify their expression in view of the production of insulin-secreting cells.

Cytokines induce apoptosis in beta-cells isolated from mice lacking the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS-/-).

Prolonged exposure of rodent beta-cells to combinations of cytokines induces the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and Fas expression, nitric oxide (NO) production, and cell death. It also induces the expression of potential "defense" genes, such as manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and heat shock protein (hsp) 70. NO is a radical with multifaceted actions. Recent studies have shown that NO, in addition to having cytotoxic actions, may regulate gene transcription. It remains unclear whether NO mediates cytokine-induced gene expression and subsequent beta-cell death. Previous studies using NO synthase blockers yielded conflicting results, which may be due to nonspecific effects of these agents. In this study, we examined the effects of cytokines on gene expression, determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and viability, determined by nuclear dyes, of pancreatic islets or fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS)-purified beta-cells isolated from iNOS knockout mice (iNOS-/-, background C57BL/6x129SvEv) or their respective controls (C57BL/6x129SvEv). The combination of cytokines used was interleukin-1beta (50 U/ml) plus gamma-interferon (1,000 U/ml) plus tumor necrosis factor-alpha (1,000 U/ml). The lack of cytokine-induced iNOS activity in the iNOS-/- islet cells was confirmed by RT-PCR and nitrite determination. Cytokines induced a >3-fold increase in Fas and MnSOD mRNA expression in wild-type (WT) and iNOS-/- islets. On the other hand, hsp 70 was induced in WT but not in iNOS-/- islets. Prolonged (6-9 days) exposure of WT islets to cytokines leads to an 80-90% decrease in islet cell viability, whereas viability decreased by only 10-30% in iNOS-/- islet cells. To determine the mode of cytokine-induced cell death, FACS-purified beta-cells were exposed to the same cytokines. After 9 days, the apoptosis index was similarly increased in WT (39 +/- 3%) and iNOS4-/- (33 +/- 4%) beta-cells. On the other hand, cytokines increased necrosis in WT (20 +/- 4%) but not in iNOS-/- (7 +/- 3%) beta-cells. From these data, we concluded that 1) NO is required for cytokine-induced hsp 70 mRNA expression but not for Fas and MnSOD expression, 2) cytokines induce both apoptosis and necrosis in mouse beta-cells, and 3) cytokine-induced apoptosis is mostly NO-independent, whereas necrosis requires NO formation.

Intraislet release of interleukin 1 inhibits beta cell function by inducing beta cell expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase.

Cytokines, released in and around pancreatic islets during insulitis, have been proposed to participate in beta-cell destruction associated with autoimmune diabetes. In this study we have evaluated the hypothesis that local release of the cytokine interleukin 1 (IL-1) by nonendocrine cells of the islet induce the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) by beta cells which results in the inhibition of beta cell function. Treatment of rat islets with a combination of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), conditions known to activate macrophages, stimulate the expression of iNOS and the formation of nitrite. Although TNF+LPS induce iNOS expression and inhibit insulin secretion by intact islets, this combination does not induce the expression of iNOS by beta or alpha cells purified by fluorescence activated cell sorting (Facs). In contrast, IL-1 beta induces the expression of iNOS and also inhibits insulin secretion by both intact islets and Facs-purified beta cells, whereas TNF+LPS have no inhibitory effects on insulin secretion by purified beta cells. Evidence suggests that TNF+LPS inhibit insulin secretion from islets by stimulating the release of IL-1 which subsequently induces the expression of iNOS by beta cells. The IL-1 receptor antagonist protein completely prevents TNF+LPS-induced inhibition of insulin secretion and attenuates nitrite formation from islets, and neutralization of IL-1 with antisera specific for IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta attenuates TNF+LPS-induced nitrite formation by islets. Immunohistochemical localization of iNOS and insulin confirm that TNF+LPS induce the expression of iNOS by islet beta cells, and that a small percentage of noninsulin-containing cells also express iNOS. Local release of IL-1 within islets appears to be required for TNF+LPS-induced inhibition of insulin secretion because TNF+LPS do not stimulate nitrite formation from islets physically separated into individual cells. These findings provide the first evidence that a limited number of nonendocrine cells can release sufficient quantities of IL-1 in islets to induce iNOS expression and inhibit the function of the beta cell, which is selectively destroyed during the development of autoimmune diabetes.

Tyrosine kinase involvement in IL-1 beta-induced expression of iNOS by beta-cells purified from islets of Langerhans.

Nitric oxide is believed to mediate the inhibitory effects of cytokines on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by both rat and human islets. The aims of this study were 1) to determine the cellular source of the cytokine-inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expressed in islets following cytokine stimulation and 2) to determine whether tyrosine kinase activity participates in cytokine-induced iNOS expression. In this report we demonstrate that the cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) stimulates the expression of iNOS and the formation of nitric oxide (as determined by nitrite formation, a stable oxidative product of nitric oxide) by isolated intact rat islets and by primary beta-cells purified by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Both the expression of iNOS and nitrite formation induced by IL-1 beta were prevented by the mRNA transcriptional inhibitor actinomycin D. IL-1 beta did not induce the expression of iNOS by FACS-purified alpha-cells, the other major endocrine cell type of the islet. The tyrosine kinase inhibitors genistein and herbimycin A prevented IL-1 beta-induced expression of immunoprecipitable iNOS and nitrite release by islets, by insulinoma RINm5F cells, and by FACS-purified beta-cells. Herbimycin A and genistein also prevented IL-1 beta-induced iNOS mRNA accumulation as determined by Northern blot analysis of total RNA isolated from RINm5F cells. These findings indicate tyrosine kinase activation participates in IL-1 beta-induced expression of iNOS by the insulin-secreting beta-cell.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

EVIDENCE FOR DIRECT AND INDIRECT PATHWAYS IN THE GENERATION OF THE ALLOIMMUNE RESPONSE AGAINST PANCREATIC ISLETS

The role of the direct and indirect pathways of alloantigen presentation in the generation of the alloimmune response was dissected using the murine mixed lymphocyte-islet coculture system (MLIC). Stimulator DBA/2J (H-2d) pancreatic islet populations consisted of whole islets (MHC class I+, II+) or FACS-purified beta cells (MHC class I+, II-). Responding C57Bl/6 (H-2b) splenocyte populations were either: (1) untreated; (2) depleted of helper T cells with anti-L3T4 monoclonal antibody plus complement; (3) depleted of cytotoxic T lymphocytes with anti-Lyt2 mAb plus complement; or (4) depleted of antigen-presenting cells by passage through a Sephadex G-10 column. Whole islets were capable of stimulating a significant C57Bl/6 anti-DBA cytotoxic T cell response if the responding population was untreated or treated with complement alone. Depletion of responding splenocytes with either anti-Lyt2 or anti-L3T4 mAb plus complement abrogated the generation of allospecific CTL. If the responding splenocyte population was depleted of APCs, the allo-CTL response against whole islets was decreased, but still significant. If, however, the stimulator population consisted of FACS-purified DBA 2J beta cells, APC-depleted C57Bl 6 splenocytes were incapable of generating any CTL response. Adding responder type (C57Bl/6) APCs back to the microwells restored the capacity for both whole islets and purified beta cells to stimulate a strong allo-CTL response. These data demonstrate that both indirect and direct pathways of alloantigen presentation function in the MLIC.