Circulating microRNA-375 as biomarker of pancreatic beta cell death and protection of beta cell mass by cytoprotective compounds.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated that circulating microRNA-375 (miR-375) is a suitable plasma biomarker for real-time detection of beta cell death. The present study evaluated the use of this biomarker to assess the beta cytoprotective effect of phenylpropenoic acid glucoside (PPAG), which was previously demonstrated to protect beta cells against various types of injury, and of exendin-4, which is an established antidiabetic drug. METHODS: PPAG or exendin-4 were administered in mice treated with streptozotocin (STZ) to acutely induce beta cell death. Beta cell mass and apoptotic death were measured in pancreatic tissue sections. Circulating miR-375 was measured in blood plasma by RT-qPCR. The release of miR-375 was also measured in vitro by MIN-6 beta cells. RESULTS: Administration of STZ resulted in measurable circulating levels of miR-375, a decrease in beta cell mass and increase in frequency of apoptotic beta cells. In vitro, there was a good correlation between miR-375 release and the extent of beta cell death. Treatment of mice with PPAG or exendin-4 significantly attenuated STZ-induced loss of beta cell mass and beta cell apoptosis, and normalized the blood level of miR-375. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show the potential use of serological miR-375 measurements to evaluate the beta cytoprotective effect of (potential) antidiabetic drugs in vivo.

Phenylpropenoic Acid Glucoside from Rooibos Protects Pancreatic Beta Cells against Cell Death Induced by Acute Injury.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated that a phenylpropenoic acid glucoside (PPAG) from rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) extract had anti-hyperglycemic activity and significant protective effects on the pancreatic beta cell mass in a chronic diet-induced diabetes model. The present study evaluated the cytoprotective effect of the phytochemical on beta cells exposed to acute cell stress. METHODS: Synthetically prepared PPAG was administered orally in mice treated with a single dose of streptozotocin to acutely induce beta cell death and hyperglycemia. Its effect was assessed on beta cell mass, proliferation and apoptotic cell death. Its cytoprotective effect was also studied in vitro on INS-1E beta cells and on human pancreatic islet cells. RESULTS: Treatment with the phytochemical PPAG protected beta cells during the first days after the insult against apoptotic cell death, as evidenced by TUNEL staining, and prevented loss of expression of anti-apoptotic protein BCL2 in vivo. In vitro, PPAG protected INS-1E beta cells from streptozotocin-induced apoptosis and necrosis in a BCL2-dependent and independent way, respectively, depending on glucose concentration. PPAG also protected human pancreatic islet cells against the cytotoxic action of the fatty acid palmitate. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show the potential use of PPAG as phytomedicine which protects the beta cell mass exposed to acute diabetogenic stress.

Acinar phenotype is preserved in human exocrine pancreas cells cultured at low temperature: implications for lineage-tracing of ß-cell neogenesis.

The regenerative medicine field is expanding with great successes in laboratory and preclinical settings. Pancreatic acinar cells in diabetic mice were recently converted into ß-cells by treatment with ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF). This suggests that human acinar cells might become a cornerstone for diabetes cell therapy in the future, if they can also be converted into glucose-responsive insulin-producing cells. Presently, studying pancreatic acinar cell biology in vitro is limited by their high plasticity, as they rapidly lose their phenotype and spontaneously transdifferentiate to a duct-like phenotype in culture. We questioned whether human pancreatic acinar cell phenotype could be preserved in vitro by physico-chemical manipulations and whether this could be valuable in the study of ß-cell neogenesis. We found that culture at low temperature (4°C) resulted in the maintenance of morphological and molecular acinar cell characteristics. Specifically, chilled acinar cells did not form the spherical clusters observed in controls (culture at 37°C), and they maintained high levels of acinar-specific transcripts and proteins. Five-day chilled acinar cells still transdifferentiated into duct-like cells upon transfer to 37°C. Moreover, adenoviral-mediated gene transfer evidenced an active Amylase promoter in the 7-day chilled acinar cells, and transduction performed in chilled conditions improved acinar cell labelling. Together, our findings indicate the maintenance of human pancreatic acinar cell phenotype at low temperature and the possibility to efficiently label acinar cells, which opens new perspectives for the study of human acinar-to-ß-cell transdifferentiation.

Beta Cell Mass Restoration in Alloxan-Diabetic Mice Treated with EGF and Gastrin.

One week of treatment with EGF and gastrin (EGF/G) was shown to restore normoglycemia and to induce islet regeneration in mice treated with the diabetogenic agent alloxan. The mechanisms underlying this regeneration are not fully understood. We performed genetic lineage tracing experiments to evaluate the contribution of beta cell neogenesis in this model. One day after alloxan administration, mice received EGF/G treatment for one week. The treatment could not prevent the initial alloxan-induced beta cell mass destruction, however it did reverse glycemia to control levels within one day, suggesting improved peripheral glucose uptake. In vitro experiments with C2C12 cell line showed that EGF could stimulate glucose uptake with an efficacy comparable to that of insulin. Subsequently, EGF/G treatment stimulated a 3-fold increase in beta cell mass, which was partially driven by neogenesis and beta cell proliferation as assessed by beta cell lineage tracing and BrdU-labeling experiments, respectively. Acinar cell lineage tracing failed to show an important contribution of acinar cells to the newly formed beta cells. No appearance of transitional cells co-expressing insulin and glucagon, a hallmark for alpha-to-beta cell conversion, was found, suggesting that alpha cells did not significantly contribute to the regeneration. An important fraction of the beta cells significantly lost insulin positivity after alloxan administration, which was restored to normal after one week of EGF/G treatment. Alloxan-only mice showed more pronounced beta cell neogenesis and proliferation, even though beta cell mass remained significantly depleted, suggesting ongoing beta cell death in that group. After one week, macrophage infiltration was significantly reduced in EGF/G-treated group compared to the alloxan-only group. Our results suggest that EGF/G-induced beta cell regeneration in alloxan-diabetic mice is driven by beta cell neogenesis, proliferation and recovery of insulin. The glucose-lowering effect of the treatment might play an important role in the regeneration process.

Regulating the beta cell mass as a strategy for type-2 diabetes treatment.

The incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) increases dramatically worldwide and has created an enormous health care burden. Obesity, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance are major risk factors for the development of T2D, but the major factor leading to the disease is failure of the insulin-producing beta cell mass to compensate for increasing insulin demands of the body. Progression of the disease further diminishes the beta cell mass as a result of lipotoxicity and glucotoxicity for which beta cells are particularly sensitive. Hence, treatment aiming to prevent beta cell loss or increase the number of beta cells could inhibit diabetes progression or lead to restoration of normal metabolism. Whereas current and new antidiabetic drugs are mainly targeting insulin secretion and action or glucose uptake, newer interventions must be found that prevent beta cell loss or increase beta cell number. The targets for this are beta cell proliferation, neogenesis and survival. This review examines major evidence from animal experiments suggesting that it is feasible to regulate the beta cell mass by bioactive compounds like growth factors, cytokines, hormones, phytochemicals and small molecules. Often the mode of action remains unclear due to inadequate methods to assess the effects of the compounds on the beta cell dynamics. Furthermore, a major challenge is to identify compounds with sufficient specificity in order to avoid unwanted effects on other cell types. Provided such safety issues can be solved, this may provide a curative approach for diabetes treatment.