Effect of trauma on plasma glucagon and insulin concentrations in sheep.
(1/3774)
Portal plasma glucagon and insulin concentrations were measured before and after acute trauma (liver biosy). The trauma was sufficient to increase glucagon concentrations and depress insulin concentrations. These changes were associated with a marked hyperglycemia. Infusion of glucagon was insufficient to prevent stress inhibition of insulin secretion. The stimulation of glucagon secretion and inhibition of insulin secretion were of about one hour duration. These findings indicate that glucagon and insulin in conjunction with the nervous system may play an important role in the development of stress related hyperglycemia. (+info)
Effects of glucagon and insulin on lipolysis and ketogenesis in sheep.
(2/3774)
The hepatic and portal productions of acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate and lipolysis were studied in normal and insulin-controlled alloxan-diabetic sheep. Since hyperinsulinemia is associated with glucagon administration, the latter group of sheep were used to maintain constant plasma insulin levels. After control values were obtained glucagon was infused intraportally at 90 mug/hr for two hours. The ketone body production by portal drained viscera was not significantly affected by glucagon. In alloxanized sheep, glucagon significantly (P less than 0.01) increased net hepatic production of acetoacetate (from -0.54 +/- 0.08 to 0.46 +/- 0.07 g/hr). Lipolysis also increased. However, in the normal sheep, hyperinsulinemia prevented any stimulatory effect of glucagon on hepatic ketogenesis and lipolysis. Therefore, while glucagon appears capable of stimulating ketogenesis andlipolysis, these effects are readily suppressed by insulin. (+info)
Leptin suppression of insulin secretion and gene expression in human pancreatic islets: implications for the development of adipogenic diabetes mellitus.
(3/3774)
Previously we demonstrated the expression of the long form of the leptin receptor in rodent pancreatic beta-cells and an inhibition of insulin secretion by leptin via activation of ATP-sensitive potassium channels. Here we examine pancreatic islets isolated from pancreata of human donors for their responses to leptin. The presence of leptin receptors on islet beta-cells was demonstrated by double fluorescence confocal microscopy after binding of a fluorescent derivative of human leptin (Cy3-leptin). Leptin (6.25 nM) suppressed insulin secretion of normal islets by 20% at 5.6 mM glucose. Intracellular calcium responses to 16.7 mM glucose were rapidly reduced by leptin. Proinsulin messenger ribonucleic acid expression in islets was inhibited by leptin at 11.1 mM, but not at 5.6 mM glucose. Leptin also reduced proinsulin messenger ribonucleic acid levels that were increased in islets by treatment with 10 nM glucagon-like peptide-1 in the presence of either 5.6 or 11.1 mM glucose. These findings demonstrate direct suppressive effects of leptin on insulin-producing beta-cells in human islets at the levels of both stimulus-secretion coupling and gene expression. The findings also further indicate the existence of an adipoinsular axis in humans in which insulin stimulates leptin production in adipocytes and leptin inhibits the production of insulin in beta-cells. We suggest that dysregulation of the adipoinsular axis in obese individuals due to defective leptin reception by beta-cells may result in chronic hyperinsulinemia and may contribute to the pathogenesis of adipogenic diabetes. (+info)
Characterization of a novel calcium response element in the glucagon gene.
(4/3774)
To maintain blood glucose levels within narrow limits, the synthesis and secretion of pancreatic islet hormones is controlled by a variety of extracellular signals. Depolarization-induced calcium influx into islet cells has been shown to stimulate glucagon gene transcription through the transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein that binds to the glucagon cAMP response element. By transient transfection of glucagon-reporter fusion genes into islet cell lines, this study identified a second calcium response element in the glucagon gene (G2 element, from -165 to -200). Membrane depolarization was found to induce the binding of a nuclear complex with NFATp-like immunoreactivity to the G2 element. Consistent with nuclear translocation, a comigrating complex was found in cytosolic extracts of unstimulated cells, and the induction of nuclear protein binding was blocked by inhibition of calcineurin phosphatase activity by FK506. A mutational analysis of G2 function and nuclear protein binding as well as the effect of FK506 indicate that calcium responsiveness is conferred to the G2 element by NFATp functionally interacting with HNF-3beta binding to a closely associated site. Transcription factors of the NFAT family are known to cooperate with AP-1 proteins in T cells for calcium-dependent activation of cytokine genes. This study shows a novel pairing of NFATp with the cell lineage-specific transcription factor HNF-3beta in islet cells to form a novel calcium response element in the glucagon gene. (+info)
Identification of domains mediating transcriptional activation and cytoplasmic export in the caudal homeobox protein Cdx-3.
(5/3774)
The caudal genes have important functions in embryonic development and cell differentiation. The caudal-related protein Cdx-2/3 (the protein designated Cdx-2 in the mouse and Cdx-3 in the hamster) is expressed in the gastrointestinal epithelium and in islet and enteroendocrine cells, where it activates proglucagon gene transcription. We show here that Cdx-3 sequences amino-terminal to the homeodomain (amino acids 1-180) function as a heterologous transcriptional activation domain when fused to the LexA DNA binding domain. A Cdx-3-Pit-1 fusion protein containing only the first 83 amino acids of Cdx-3 linked to the POU domain of Pit-1 markedly stimulated the transcriptional activity of a Pit-1-responsive promoter. Analysis of the transcriptional properties of Cdx-3 mutants in fibroblasts and islet cells revealed distinct amino-terminal subdomains that function in a cell-specific manner. Point mutations within the amino-terminal A domain were associated with reduced transcriptional activity. Furthermore, internal deletions and selected point mutations within domain A, but not the B or C domains, resulted in accumulation of mutant Cdx-3 in the cytoplasm. Unexpectedly, mutation of an Asp-Lys-Asp motif within domain A identified a putative cytoplasmic membrane-associated export signal that mediates Cdx-3 compartmentalization. These experiments delineate unique activities for specific amino-terminal sequences that are functionally important for Cdx-3 biological activity. (+info)
Role of glucagon on the control of hepatic protein synthesis and degradation in the rat in vivo.
(6/3774)
The effect of glucagon on hepatic protein systhesis and proteolysis has been investigated. The intraperitoneal administration of 200 mug of glucagon produced an increase of the polypeptide chains completion time which was maximal 5 min after its administration and approached control values at 20 min. The increase of the polypeptides chains completion time observed at 5 min after the hormone administration represents a 38% inhibition of the hepatic protein synthetic rate. When glucagon was continuously supplied by intravascular infusion, maximal inhibition was attained throughout the experiment. This inhibition of protein synthesis brought about by glucagon was accompanied by an increase in the polyribosomal state of aggregation, indicating that the hormone acts mainly if not exclusively, on the elongation or termination step, or both. The administration of glucagon produced also a progressive increase in the hepatic valine concentration. This increase could not be accounted for the the decrease in plasma valine levels, suggesting that the rise in haptic valine concentration is an expression of hepatic proteolysis rather than the result of an accelerated transport of amino acids across the hepatocyte plasma membrane. The different time sequence in the glucagon-induced effects of protein synthesis and proteolysis suggests that both effects are independent and probably mediated by different mechanisms. (+info)
Characterization of beta cells developed in vitro from rat embryonic pancreatic epithelium.
(7/3774)
The present study evaluates the development and functional properties of beta cells differentiated in vitro. The authors have previously demonstrated that when E12.5 rat pancreatic rudiments are cultured in vitro in the absence of mesenchyme, the majority of the epithelial cells differentiate into endocrine beta cells. Thus, depletion of the mesenchyme provokes the expansion of endocrine tissue at the expense of exocrine tissue. The potential use of this procedure for the production of beta cells led the authors to characterize the beta cells differentiated in this model and to compare their properties with those of the endocrine cells of the embryonic and adult pancreas. This study shows that the beta cells that differentiate in vitro in the absence of mesenchyme express the homeodomain protein Nkx6.1, a transcription factor that is characteristic of adult mature beta cells. Further, electron microscopy analysis shows that these beta cells are highly granulated, and the ultrastructural analysis of the granules shows that they are characteristic of mature beta cells. The maturity of these granules was confirmed by a double-immunofluorescence study that demonstrated that Rab3A and SNAP-25, two proteins associated with the secretory pathway of insulin, are strongly expressed. Finally, the maturity of the differentiated beta cells in this model was confirmed when the cells responded to stimulation with 16 mM glucose by a 5-fold increase in insulin release. The authors conclude that the beta cells differentiated in vitro from rat embryonic pancreatic rudiments devoid of mesenchyme are mature beta cells. (+info)
Inactivation of the winged helix transcription factor HNF3alpha affects glucose homeostasis and islet glucagon gene expression in vivo.
(8/3774)
Mice homozygous for a null mutation in the winged helix transcription factor HNF3alpha showed severe postnatal growth retardation followed by death between P2 and P12. Homozygous mutant mice were hypoglycemic despite unchanged expression of HNF3 target genes involved in hepatic gluconeogenesis. Whereas insulin and corticosteroid levels were altered as expected, plasma glucagon was reduced markedly in the mutant animals despite the hypoglycemia that should be expected to increase glucagon levels. This correlated with a 70% reduction in pancreatic proglucagon gene expression. We also showed that HNF3alpha could bind to and transactivate the proglucagon gene promoter. These observations invoke a central role for HNF3alpha in the regulatory control of islet genes essential for glucose homeostasis in vivo. (+info)