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Calcineurin signaling regulates human islet {beta}-cell survival.

ABSTRACT: The calcium-regulated phosphatase calcineurin intersects with both calcium and cAMP-mediated signaling pathways in the pancreatic β-cell. Pharmacologic calcineurin inhibition, necessary to prevent rejection in the setting of organ transplantation, is associated with post-transplant β-cell failure. We sought to determine the effect of calcineurin inhibition on β-cell replication and survival in rodents and in isolated human islets. Further, we assessed whether the GLP-1 receptor agonist and cAMP stimulus, exendin-4 (Ex-4), could rescue β-cell replication and survival following calcineurin inhibition. Following treatment with the calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus, human β-cell apoptosis was significantly increased. Although we detected no human β-cell replication, tacrolimus significantly decreased rodent β-cell replication. Ex-4 nearly normalized both human β-cell survival and rodent β-cell replication when co-administered with tacrolimus. We found that tacrolimus decreased Akt phosphorylation, suggesting that calcineurin could regulate replication and survival via the PI3K/Akt pathway. We identify insulin receptor substrate-2 (Irs2), a known cAMP-responsive element-binding protein target and upstream regulator of the PI3K/Akt pathway, as a novel calcineurin target in β-cells. Irs2 mRNA and protein are decreased by calcineurin inhibition in both rodent and human islets. The effect of calcineurin on Irs2 expression is mediated at least in part through the nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT), as NFAT occupied the Irs2 promoter in a calcineurin-sensitive manner. Ex-4 restored Irs2 expression in tacrolimus-treated rodent and human islets nearly to baseline. These findings reveal calcineurin as a regulator of human β-cell survival in part through regulation of Irs2, with implications for the pathogenesis and treatment of diabetes following organ transplantation.

SUBMITTER: Soleimanpour SA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3000987 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Type 1 diabetes is a complex disease characterized by the lack of endogenous insulin secreted from the pancreatic β-cells. Although β-cell targeted autoimmune processes and β-cell dysfunction are known to occur in type 1 diabetes, a complete understanding of the cell-to-cell interactions that support pancreatic function is still lacking. To characterize the pancreatic endocrine compartment, we studied pancreata from healthy adult donors and investigated a single cell surface adhesion molecule, desmoglein-2 (DSG2). Genetically-modified mice lacking Dsg2 were examined for islet cell mass, insulin production, responses to glucose, susceptibility to a streptozotocin-induced mouse model of hyperglycaemia, and ability to cure diabetes in a syngeneic transplantation model. Herein, we have identified DSG2 as a previously unrecognized adhesion molecule that supports β-cells. Furthermore, we reveal that DSG2 is within the top 10 percent of all genes expressed by human pancreatic islets and is expressed by the insulin-producing β-cells but not the somatostatin-producing δ-cells. In a Dsg2 loss-of-function mice (Dsg2lo/lo), we observed a significant reduction in the number of pancreatic islets and islet size, and consequently, there was less total insulin content per islet cluster. Dsg2lo/lo mice also exhibited a reduction in blood vessel barrier integrity, an increased incidence of streptozotocin-induced diabetes, and islets isolated from Dsg2lo/lo mice were more susceptible to cytokine-induced β-cell apoptosis. Following transplantation into diabetic mice, islets isolated from Dsg2lo/lo mice were less effective than their wildtype counterparts at curing diabetes. In vitro assays using the Beta-TC-6 murine β-cell line suggest that DSG2 supports the actin cytoskeleton as well as the release of cytokines and chemokines. Taken together, our study suggests that DSG2 is an under-appreciated regulator of β-cell function in pancreatic islets and that a better understanding of this adhesion molecule may provide new opportunities to combat type 1 diabetes.

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Calcineurin signaling regulates human islet {beta}-cell survival.

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