Tamoxifen suppresses pancreatic β-cell proliferation in mice.

Tamoxifen is a mixed agonist/antagonist estrogen analogue that is frequently used to induce conditional gene deletion in mice using Cre-loxP mediated gene recombination. Tamoxifen is routinely employed in extremely high-doses relative to typical human doses to induce efficient gene deletion in mice. Although tamoxifen has been widely assumed to have no influence upon β-cells, the acute developmental and functional consequences of high-dose tamoxifen upon glucose homeostasis and adult β-cells are largely unknown.

Glucagon Receptor Antagonist-Stimulated α-Cell Proliferation Is Severely Restricted With Advanced Age.

Glucagon-containing α-cells potently regulate glucose homeostasis, but the developmental biology of α-cells in adults remains poorly understood. Although glucagon receptor antagonists (GRAs) have great potential as antidiabetic therapies, murine and human studies have raised concerns that GRAs might cause uncontrolled α-cell growth. Surprisingly, previous rodent GRA studies were only performed in young mice, implying that the potential impact of GRAs to drive α-cell expansion in adult patients is unclear.

Low-Level Insulin Content Within Abundant Non-β Islet Endocrine Cells in Long-standing Type 1 Diabetes.

Although most patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) continue to produce small amounts of insulin decades after disease onset, very few β-cells persist within their pancreata. Consequently, the source of persistent insulin secretion within T1D remains unclear. We hypothesized that low-level insulin content within non-β-cells could underlie persistent T1D insulin secretion.

Highly Proliferative α-Cell-Related Islet Endocrine Cells in Human Pancreata.

The proliferative response of non-β islet endocrine cells in response to type 1 diabetes (T1D) remains undefined. We quantified islet endocrine cell proliferation in a large collection of nondiabetic control and T1D human pancreata across a wide range of ages. Surprisingly, islet endocrine cells with abundant proliferation were present in many adolescent and young-adult T1D pancreata.

Incretin Therapies Do Not Expand β-Cell Mass or Alter Pancreatic Histology in Young Male Mice.

The impact of incretins upon pancreatic β-cell expansion remains extremely controversial. Multiple studies indicate that incretin-based therapies can increase β-cell proliferation, and incretins have been hypothesized to expand β-cell mass. However, disagreement exists on whether incretins increase β-cell mass.

β Cells Persist in T1D Pancreata Without Evidence of Ongoing β-Cell Turnover or Neogenesis.

Context: The cellular basis of persistent β-cell function in type 1 diabetes (T1D) remains enigmatic. No extensive quantitative β-cell studies of T1D pancreata have been performed to test for ongoing β-cell regeneration or neogenesis.

Objective: We sought to determine the mechanism of β-cell persistence in T1D pancreata.

Resolving Discrepant Findings on ANGPTL8 in β-Cell Proliferation: A Collaborative Approach to Resolving the Betatrophin Controversy.

The β-cell mitogenic effects of ANGPTL8 have been subjected to substantial debate. The original findings suggested that ANGPTL8 overexpression in mice induced a 17-fold increase in β-cell proliferation. Subsequent studies in mice contested this claim, but a more recent report in rats supported the original observations.

Extreme obesity induces massive beta cell expansion in mice through self-renewal and does not alter the beta cell lineage.

Aims/hypothesis: Understanding the developmental biology of beta cell regeneration is critical for developing new diabetes therapies. Obesity is a potent but poorly understood stimulus for beta cell expansion. Current models of obesity are complicated by developmental compensation or concurrent diabetes, limiting their usefulness for identifying the lineage mechanism(s) of beta cell expansion.

Extreme Beta-Cell Deficiency in Pancreata of Dogs with Canine Diabetes.

The pathophysiology of canine diabetes remains poorly understood, in part due to enigmatic clinical features and the lack of detailed histopathology studies. Canine diabetes, similar to human type 1 diabetes, is frequently associated with diabetic ketoacidosis at onset or after insulin omission. However, notable differences exist.

Angiopoietin-like protein 8 (ANGPTL8)/betatrophin overexpression does not increase beta cell proliferation in mice.

Aims/hypothesis: The identification of novel targets that stimulate endogenous regeneration of beta cells would represent a significant advance in the treatment of patients with diabetes. The betatrophin hypothesis suggests that increased expression of angiopoietin-like protein 8 (ANGPTL8) induces dramatic and specific beta cell proliferation and subsequent beta cell mass expansion with improved glucose tolerance. In light of recent controversy, we further investigated the effects of ANGPTL8 overexpression on beta cell proliferation.

Large-scale discovery of ERK2 substrates identifies ERK-mediated transcriptional regulation by ETV3.

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) is ubiquitously expressed in mammalian tissues and is involved in a wide range of biological processes. Although MAPKs have been intensely studied, identification of their substrates remains challenging. We have optimized a chemical genetic system using analog-sensitive ERK2, a form of ERK2 engineered to use an analog of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), to tag and isolate ERK2 substrates in vitro.