Dynamics of follicular growth and atresia of large follicles during the ovarian cycle of the guinea pig: fate of the degenerating follicles, a quantitative study.

BACKGROUND: A quantitative integrated study of healthy ovarian follicles of different sizes and their mitotic activity and of clearly defined atretic stages of involuting large growing follicles at different stages of the guinea pig ovarian cycle is not available in the literature. We considered that such a study would reveal new aspects of ovarian tissue dynamics and provide new information in an organ with a continuous phenotypic transformation of its cellular components. METHODS: Ovaries from guinea pigs were removed on days 1 (opening of the vagina), 3, 6, 9, 13, and 16 of the cycle, and the following were measured in serial sections: (1) total number of healthy follicles falling into categories based on the volume occupied by granulosa cells, (2) total number of atretic follicles falling into clearly defined morphological stages of the degenerative and involutionary process affecting medium to large follicles, and (3) proportion of metaphase-arrested granulosa cells, after colcemid injection, in healthy follicles of different size categories. RESULTS: Dynamic patterns of follicular growth and degeneration were revealed that permitted the following main conclusions and observations: (1) small to middle-size follicles can reach the maximal category mass of granulosa mass within 6-7 days, and the number of granulosa cells can increase 6-7-fold during this interval, (2) the cohort that gives rise to 2-6 preovulatory follicles and to the large follicles that will undergo atresia during each cycle varied from 68 to 108 follicles, (3) cell death starts in the granulosa cell layers of large follicles even when neighbouring cells maintain a high mitotic activity and it spreads rapidly; dead granulosa cells are cleare by nucleolysis and cytolysis in the absence of blood leucocytes or neovascularization, (4) foci of atresia are observed also in a few preovulatory follicles, (5) antral cavities of follicles with dead granulosa cells in the process of being lysed shrink and are filled within 2-3 days with large fibroblast-like cells arising from phenotypic transformation of inner layers of theca interna, with no evidence of mitotic activity or angiogenesis; the outer layers of theca interna involute, and by progressive atrophy and a process of cell death, minute nodular structures arise with remnants of the ovum and zona pellucida, and (6) a transient wave of degeneration affects a proportion of small and middle-size follicles during the metestrous period. This process does not resemble the morphological phenomenology of follicular involution, which affects only large follicles. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to a fuller understanding of the dynamics and time relationships of follicular growth and loss in the guinea pig ovary and provides new morphogenetic information on the atretic process. It would be valuable for the design of experiments on endocrine and paracrine interactions involved in follicular growth and atresia.

Prevention of spontaneous but not of adoptively transferred diabetes by injection of neonatal BB/hooded hybrid rats with splenocytes or concanavalin A blasts from diabetes-free strains.

Spontaneous diabetes was fully prevented in 65 BB/hooded (BB/h) highly diabetes-prone hybrid rats that were given five intraperitoneal injections (25 to 30 x 10(6) cells/injection) of fresh splenocytes or concanavalin A (ConA)-activated cultured splenocytes (blasts) from the diabetes-free Wistar-Furth or Long-Evans strains during the first 2 postnatal wk. Rats remained under observation for up to the age of 180-200 days. Of 70 littermate controls that received no cell injections, 63 developed overt diabetes before the age of 180 days. One intraperitoneal injection (25 x 10(6) cells) of splenocytes or blasts given during the first 36 h after birth was not as effective as multiple injections in preventing overt diabetes. Mild insulitis was present in 4 of 59 "protected" rats; small, discrete mononuclear infiltrates in periductular connective tissue and/or between pancreatic acini were observed in 27. Nondiabetic BB/h rats that were protected with splenocytes or blasts from diabetes-free strains had the same degree of lymphopenia in peripheral blood and spleen as age-matched, insulin-treated diabetic BB/h rats, but the level of islet cell surface antibodies in their serum was significantly lower. The same neonatal injections that protected rats from the development of spontaneous diabetes were completely ineffective in preventing the adoptive transfer of diabetes later in life by the injection of blasts from acutely diabetic BB/h rats.

Adoptive transfer of insulitis and diabetes in neonates of diabetes-prone and -resistant rats. Tissue localization of injected blasts.

Intravenous transfusion of concanavalin A-activated splenic cells from acutely diabetic BB or diabetic BB/hooded hybrid donor rats into 6- to 36-h-old neonate recipients of diabetes-prone and -resistant rat lines induced insulitis and in some severe diabetes. These effects were observed 10-20 days after the injection of the blasts. Focal lesions of insulitis were absent in neonates killed 1 and 3 days after the blast injection but were observed in neonates killed on the 5th and 8th day. As determined by autoradiography after the injection of [3H]thymidine-labeled blasts, numerous blast cells migrated and settled in various immature lymph nodes and in the spleen within 24 h after injection. Focal mononuclear infiltrations in the islets containing labeled and unlabeled cells were again observed on the 5th and 8th day but not on the 1st and 3rd day after injection. These experiments indicate that target-specific blasts undergo a short phase of proliferation and maturation in lymphoid organs of the recipients, before initiating the autoimmune process in the pancreatic islets. They further suggest that specific immune cells rather than humoral anti-islet antibodies are more likely to play the major role in this autoimmune animal model of diabetes.

Hormonal and non-hormonal protein biosynthesis in the pancreatic beta cell of the intact rat after prolonged hyperglycaemia.

We examined the relative changes in the rates of biosynthesis of (pro)insulin and of non-hormonal beta cell proteins in rats with pronounced hyperglycaemia for up to several days. Labelling of pancreatic cells in vivo eliminated certain pitfalls that we encountered when isolated pancreatic islets from these rats were labelled in vitro. Rats were infused with glucose or buffer solutions for 24 and 72 h. Glucose-infused rats had sustained hyperglycaemia throughout the infusion periods. L[4,5-3H]leucine or L[2,3-3H]tryptophan (an amino acid absent from proinsulin) was injected iv 30 min before the rats were killed. Pancreatic islets were isolated by enzymatic digestion of the pancrease. Pancreatic islets from the rats injected with [3H]leucine were processed for measurement of [3H]proinsulin and [3H]insulin by a double antibody immunoprecipitation procedure. Islets from rats injected with [3H]tryptophan were processed for autoradiography, in order to assess the incorporation of label into non-hormonal sedentary beta cell proteins. Incorporation of [3H]leucine into proinsulin and insulin per beta cell was estimated to be about 2-2.5 (24 h infusion) and 3.5-4 (72 h infusion) times greater in the hyperglycaemic than in normoglycaemic rats. Incorporation of [3H]tryptophan into non-hormonal beta cell proteins showed similar increments in the hyperglycaemic rats. Contrary to our expectation these results indicate that glucose does not exert a significant preferential effect on insulin biosynthesis even after sustained stimulation of the beta cells. Instead, glucose seems to increase equally the incorporation of labelled amino acids into proinsulin and into non-hormonal, beta cell proteins.

The onset and progression of pancreatic insulitis in the overt, spontaneously diabetic, young adult BB rat studied by pancreatic biopsy.

A specially developed clamping procedure permitted the easy, complication-free removal of splenic pancreas from rats. Using this biopsy procedure pancreatic tissue was removed from 50- to 90-day-old BB rats to study in a retrospective experimental design the time at which insulitis appears in BB rats, which develop acute, overt diabetes before the age of 120 days. Islets in biopsies taken 18-53 days before the onset of diabetes showed normal structure and were free from any mononuclear infiltrations. Biopsies removed between 2 and 9 days before onset of diabetes in contrast showed widespread insulitis. In five rats in which the biopsy preceded the manifestation of diabetes by 11-16 days, only a small number of pancreatic islets showed small focal mononuclear cell infiltrations. Most of the islets in these five rats had a normal histologic appearance. Thus the lesions within the islets develop rapidly starting about 2-3 wk before overt diabetes. As revealed by autoradiography, pancreatic beta-cells still surviving at the time of onset of diabetes show a modest increase in replicative activity. Replicative activity of mononuclear inflammatory cells also was observed, suggesting that their accumulation within the islet tissue may result in part from local replication.

Complement-fixing islet cell antibodies in the spontaneously diabetic BB rat.

Fourteen rats of the spontaneously diabetic BB line were bled from the retroorbital sinus approximately every 10 days. Sera taken from an early age up to 20 days after the onset of overt diabetes were assayed for complement-fixing antibodies against antigens of the surface of islet cells (CFA). Dispersed islet cells from normal Wistar rats prelabeled with 3H-leucine were used as targets. Target cells in suspension were incubated with heat-inactivated rat sera and then, after washing, exposed to guinea pig complement. Cytolytic "injury" was measured by the percentage of labeled cellular proteins released into the medium. Sera from sequential bleedings from eight normal Wistar rats and three rats from a nondiabetic BB subline were assayed to establish basal control cytolytic activity. The mean response +/- SD obtained with all control sera was 7.7 +/- 1.7%. A response exceeding the mean + 3 SD (12.8%) was considered significantly different from the basal value. Thirteen of the fourteen BB rats developed strongly positive sera. The cytolytic activity preceded the onset of overt diabetes. In several rats CFA appeared 4-8 wk preceding diabetes while in other rats CFA appeared 1-2 wk preceding the manifestation of the disease. These results indicate that CFA may contribute to the destruction of pancreatic islets directly or by attracting mononuclear cells.

Glucose stimulation of beta-cell DNA replication in the intact rat and in pancreatic islets in suspension culture. Effects of alpha-ketoisocaproic acid, dibutyryl cyclic AMP, and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine in the in vitro system.

DNA replication in pancreatic beta-cells was compared in intact rats maintained hyperglycemic by continuous glucose infusion up to 10 days and in rat islets maintained in suspension culture in RPMI 1640 medium up to 12 days. Replicative activity was evaluated by counting the proportion of labeled beta-cell nuclei after injection or addition of [3H]thymidine. In both experimental systems, DNA replication initially was markedly stimulated by high glucose; then it subsided, even though high levels of glucose were maintained. Culture of pancreatic islets in suspension permitted the study of various treatments on beta-cell DNA replication. Alpha-ketoisocaproic acid, a nonglycolytic substrate for the beta-cell, stimulated DNA replication. 3-Isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), in the presence of 4 mM glucose, was a potent stimulator. In many instances the proportion of labeled beta-cell nuclei in islets cultured with IBMX exceeded that obtained with 25 mM glucose. Dibutyryl-cyclic AMP stimulated DNA replication but was not as effective as IBMX. Although the effect of IBMX markedly decreased during the second week of culture, IBMX was much more effective than 25 mM glucose in maintaining DNA replication persistently above basal (4 mM glucose) levels.

Biosynthesis of proinsulin and other islet cell proteins in pancreatic beta cells of the rat: a radioautographic evaluation of glucose effects in vitro.

Rat pancreatic islets were incubated in vitro with L-[4,5-3H]leucine or with L-[2,3-3H]tryptophan in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer, containing 0, 5, or 20 mM glucose. Incorporation of labeled amino acids in islet cells was evaluated quantitatively by a validated radioautographic procedure. Incorporation of labeled leucine into [3H]proinsulin and [3H]insulin was measured by immunoprecipitation and into other islet proteins by trichloroacetic acid precipitation. Incorporation of labeled amino acids in pancreatic beta cells was patchy and not uniform. Up to 20 to 35% of beta cells, mainly in central regions of the islets, showed poor or no incorporation of label. Peripheral nonbeta, endocrine islet cells and mesenchymal islet cells were all uniformly labeled. Incorporation of either amino acid into nonbeta endocrine and mesenchymal cells was not much affected by the absence of glucose in the incubation buffer. In contrast, incorporation of the amino acids into beta cells was strikingly affected. Incorporation of [3H]leucine into proinsulin and insulin at 0 mM glucose measured by specific immunoprecipitation and by silver grain densities over beta cells was 15 to 20 times less than at 20 mM glucose. Incorporation of [3H]tryptophan, an amino acid absent in proinsulin, into nonhormonal, sedentary beta cell proteins studied by radioautography, similarly, was strikingly affected in the absence of glucose. Thus, radioautography revealed a great sensitivity of both hormonal and nonhormonal protein biosynthesis in the beta cell to the concentration of glucose in the medium.

In vivo incorporation of [3H[ leucine and [3H] tryptophan into proinsulin-insulin and other islet cell proteins in normoglycemic, hyperglycemic, and hypoglycemic rats.

Rats were infused for brief periods with buffer, glucose, or insulin. L-[4,5-3H] leucine (2.5 mCi) or L-[2,3-3H]-tryptophan (0.5 mCi) was quickly injected intravenously 30 min after the onset of the infusion, when marked hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia had been established. Rats remained connected to the infusion system and were killed 30 min after the injection of the labeled amino acid. Pancreatic islets were isolated by enzymatic digestion of the pancreas. They were processed for radioautography or for the measurement of [3H] proinsulin and [3H] insulin by immunoprecipitation and of other islet [3H] proteins by TCA precipitation. Various tissues of the rats were also removed to measure TCA-precipitable-labeled proteins. Incorporation of [3H]-leucine into proinsulin and insulin was 9 to 20 times greater in the hyperglycemic than in the hypoglycemic rats. Incorporation of [3H]-tryptophan into sedentary beta-cell proteins, measured by thea density of silver grain in radioautographs, showed a sixfold difference. The great sensitivity of hormonal and nonhormonal protein biosynthesis of the pancreatic beta cell to plasma glucose was unique among tissues and among other pancreatic islet cells we studied.

Stimulation of proinsulin biosynthesis and insulin release by pyruvate and lactate.

Increasing concentrations of pyruvate failed to stimulate proinsulin biosynthesis and insulin release in freshly isolated islets. Glycolytic flux (3H2O from [5-3H]glucose) decreased by 80-85%, but decarboxylation of [1(-14)C]pyruvate was unaffected in islets tested immediately after alloxan exposure. This strongly suggested that in freshly isolated islets, beta-cells, in relation to other islet cells, hardly contribute to the decarboxylation of pyruvate. Non-alloxan-treated cultured islets decarboxylated 2-2.5 times as much pyruvate as did alloxan-treated islets cultured for 15-18h. Thus the contribution of beta-cells to the metabolism of pyruvate after culturing markedly increased. Concomitantly beta-cells became responsive to pyruvate. At 20mM-pyruvate, release of prelabelled proinsulin and insulin and incorporation of [3H]leucine into proinsulin reached values approximately half of those obtained with 20mM-glucose. Lactate was as effective as pyruvate in inducing responses in cultured islets. The experiments indicate that a critical degree of substrate utilization is necessary for the generation of signals for insulin release and proinsulin biosynthesis.

Metabolic signals produced by purine ribonucleosides stimulate proinsulin biosynthesis and insulin secretion.

Inosine, guanosine and adenosine strongly stimulated proinsulin biosynthesis and insulin secretion in isolated mouse pancreatic islets. None of the purine ribonucleosides stimulated insulin secretion in rat islets, although as reported [jain & Logothetopoulos (1977) Endocrinilogy 100, 923-927] inosine and guanosine, but no adenosine, were potent stimulants of proinsulin biosynthesis in this species. The purine bases had no effect in either species. D-Ribose, which enhanced proinsulin biosynthesis at 0.3 and 0.6 mM but not at 5mM in rat pancreatic islets [jain & Logothetopoulos (1977) Endocrinology 100, 923-927], produced no secretory signals in rat islets and was without any effect on proinsulin biosynthesis and insulin secretion in mouse islets. The rates of oxidation of 14C-labelled purine ribonucleosides and D-ribose in islets of the two species correlated well with their effectiveness as inducers of insulin secretion and proinsulin biosynthesis. Specific inhibitors of purine ribonucleoside phosphorylase, adenosine deaminiase and of purine ribonucleoside transport suppressed the stimulatory effects of nucleosides in pancreatic islets without altering the effect of D-glucose. The same inhibitors also markedly diminished the oxidation rats of the labelled purine ribonucleosides. The experiments clearly indicate that porinsulin biosynthesis and insulin secretion are modulated through metabolic signals and not through interactions of intact substrate molecules with cell receptors.

Secretion of insulin in a perifusion system and conversion of proinsulin to insulin by pancreatic islets from hyperglycemic rats.

The secretory pattern of insulin and the rate of conversion of proinsulin to insulin were studied in isolated pancreatic islets from normoglycemic (buffer-infused for 24 hours) and hyperglycemic (glucose-infused for 24 hours) rats. The profiles of insulin secretion obtained during one hour of perifusion were markedly different in the two groups. The rate of insulin secretion by islets from the hyperglycemic rats was initially very high but progressively declined during the late period of the perifusion. The reverse pattern was found with the islets from buffer-infused rats. For the estimation of the rate of proinsulin conversion, islets were pulse-labeled with L-[4,5-3H]-leucine for 15 minutes and "chase"-incubated for 30 and 60 minutes. Labeled rat proinsulin and rat insulins in the medium and in the islet extracts were separated by a validated SDS-urea electrophoretic acrylamide procedure following immunoprecipitation. The conversion rate was estimated from the radioactivity in the insulin band, expressed as a per cent of the radioactivity in the proinsulin + insulin bands. Islets from hyperglycemic rats converted newly synthesized proinsulin to insulin at significantly higher rates than did control islets.

Stimulation of proinsulin biosynthesis by purine-ribonucleosides and D-ribose.

Inosine and guanosine were potent stimuli of proinsulin biosynthesis ([3H]leucine incorporation) in isolated pancreatic islets of the rat. The effect was nearly abolished by formycin B, an inhibitor of purine nucleoside phosphorylase, but not by D-mannoheptulose. The corresponding bases had no effect on the rate of proinsulin biosynthesis. D-ribose enhance proinsulin biosynthesis at low concentrations )0.3-0.6mM) but concentrations above 5 mM were ineffective. The effect of all three compounds was highly specific for proinsulin biosynthesis, since incorporation of [3H]leucine into other islet proteins was not significantly stimulated. The data strongly indicate that metabolic signals regulate modulation of proinsulin biosynthesis in the beta cells.

Proinsulin biosynthesis by pancreatic islets of the rat and the study of alloxan cytotoxicity in vitro.

Incorporation of L-[4,5-3H] leucine into proinsulin plus insulin by isolated pancreatic islets was shown to be severely inhibited by previous brief exposure to 1.25 mM alloxan, but incorporation into other islet proteins was not affected. The system proved valuable for the study of the prevention of alloxan cytotoxicity by various carbohydrates and carbohydrate derivatives. D-glucose, 3-O-methyl-D-glucose, D-mannose, 2-deoxy-D-glucose effectively prevented the injury by alloxan. D-Mannoheptulose, D-glucosamine, 1-thio-beta-D-glucose, 5-thio-D-glucose, 2,6-deoxy-D-glucose, D-glyceraldehyde, and dihydroxyacetone had either insignificant or no protective effect.

The effects of D- and L-glyceraldehyde on glucose oxidation, insulin secretion and insulin biosynthesis by pancreatic islets of the rat.

D-glyceraldehyde stimulated insulin secretion from isolated rat pancreatic islets in static incubation and perifusion systems. At low concentrations (2-4 mM) D-glyceraldehyde was a more potent secretagogue than glucose. The insulinotropic action of 15 mM D-glyceraldehyde was not affected by D-mannoheptulose, was potentiated by cytochalasin B (5 mug/ml) and theophylline (4 mM), and was inhibited by both adrenalin (2 muM) and somatostatin (10 mug/ml). D-glyceraldehyde at a concentration of 1.5 mM produced a 10-fold increase of L-[4,5-3H]leucine incorporation into proinsulin and insulin without a significant increase into other islet proteins. Glucose at 1.5 mM did not stimulate proinsulin biosynthesis. D-Glyceraldehyde at concentrations higher than 1.5 mM, in marked contrast to glucose, progressively inhibited incorporation of labelled leucine into proinsulin + insulin and other islet proteins. D-Glyceraldehyde also inhibited the oxidation of glucose. L-Glyceraldehyde did not stimulate proinsulin biosynthesis and had less effect than the D-isomer on insulin release and glucose oxidation. The results strongly suggest that metabolites below D-glyceraldehyde-3-P are signals for insulin biosynthesis and release. Interaction of D-glyceraldehyde with a "membrane receptor" cannot, however, be excluded with certainty.

Persisting enhanced proinsulin-insulin and protein biosynthesis (3H-leucine incorporation) by pancreatic islets of the rat after glucose exposure.

Pancreatic islets isolated from rats infused with glucose for twenty-four hours incorporated 3H-leucine into protein at higher rates than islets isolated from normoglycemic rats. Incorporation into proinsulin-insulin showed a thirteenfold increase. The effect on other islet proteins was fourfold. Exposure of islets from normoglycemic rats to high glucose in vitro for twenty and ninety minutes and subsequent incubation with 3H-leucine at low glucose showed a twofold and fivefold increase in proinsulin biosynthesis. In the in vitro system pre-exposure of the islets to mannose and dibutyryl-cyclic AMP induced a much smaller increase in proinsulin biosyntheses.