Loss of functional pancreatic β-cell mass and increased β-cell apoptosis are fundamental to the pathophysiology of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Pancreatic islet transplantation has the potential to cure type 1 diabetes but is often ineffective due to the death of the islet graft within the first few years after transplant. Therapeutic strategies to directly target pancreatic β-cell survival are needed to prevent and treat diabetes and to improve islet transplant outcomes. Reducing β-cell apoptosis is also a therapeutic strategy for type 2 diabetes. Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a peptide hormone typically produced in the gut after food intake, with positive effects on obesity and glucose metabolism in mouse models and human subjects. We have previously shown that pancreatic islets also produce CCK. The production of CCK within the islet promotes β-cell survival in rodent models of diabetes and aging. Now, we demonstrate a direct effect of CCK to reduce cytokine-mediated apoptosis in a β-cell line and in isolated mouse islets in a receptor-dependent manner. However, whether CCK can protect human β-cells was previously unknown. Here, we report that CCK can also reduce cytokine-mediated apoptosis in isolated human islets and CCK treatment in vivo decreases β-cell apoptosis in human islets transplanted into the kidney capsule of diabetic NOD/SCID mice. Collectively, these data identify CCK as a novel therapy that can directly promote β-cell survival in human islets and has therapeutic potential to preserve β-cell mass in diabetes and as an adjunct therapy after transplant.One Sentence SummaryCholecystokinin ameliorates pancreatic β-cell death under models of stress and after transplant of human islets.
TCF19 is a gene that is associated with both type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in genome-wide association studies. Prior studies have demonstrated that TCF19 knockdown impairs β-cell proliferation and increases apoptosis. However, little is known about its role in diabetes pathogenesis or the effects of TCF19 gain-of-function. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of TCF19 overexpression in INS-1 β-cells on proliferation and gene expression. With TCF19 overexpression, there was an increase in nucleotide incorporation without any change in cell cycle gene expression, alluding to an alternate process of nucleotide incorporation. Analysis of RNAseq of TCF19 overexpressing cells revealed increased expression of several DNA damage response (DDR) genes, as well as a tightly linked set of genes involved in cell stress, immune system processes, and inflammation. This connectivity between DNA damage and inflammatory gene expression has not been well studied in the β-cell, and suggests a novel role for TCF19 in regulating these pathways. Future studies determining how TCF19 may modulate these pathways may provide potential targets for β-cell survival.
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