Many patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have residual β cells producing small amounts of C-peptide long after disease onset but develop an inadequate glucagon response to hypoglycemia following T1D diagnosis. The features of these residual β cells and α cells in the islet endocrine compartment are largely unknown, due to the difficulty of comprehensive investigation. By studying the T1D pancreas and isolated islets, we show that remnant β cells appeared to maintain several aspects of regulated insulin secretion. However, the function of T1D α cells was markedly reduced, and these cells had alterations in transcription factors constituting α and β cell identity. In the native pancreas and after placing the T1D islets into a non-autoimmune, normoglycemic in vivo environment, there was no evidence of α-to-β cell conversion. These results suggest an explanation for the disordered T1D counterregulatory glucagon response to hypoglycemia.

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SUMMARY Decretins, hormones induced by fasting that suppress insulin production and secretion, have been postulated from classical human metabolic studies. From genetic screens, we identified Drosophila Limostatin (Lst), a peptide hormone that suppresses insulin secretion. Lst is induced by nutrient restriction in gut-associated endocrine cells. limostatin deficiency led to hyperinsulinemia, hypoglycemia and excess adiposity. A conserved 15-residue polypeptide encoded by limostatin suppressed secretion by insulin-producing cells. Targeted knockdown of CG9918, a Drosophila orthologue of Neuromedin U receptors (NMUR), in insulin-producing cells phenocopied limostatin deficiency, and attenuated insulin suppression by purified Lst, suggesting CG9918 encodes an Lst receptor. NMUR1 is expressed in islet β-cells, and purified NMU suppresses insulin secretion from human islets. A human mutant NMU variant that co-segregates with familial early-onset obesity and hyperinsulinemia fails to suppress insulin secretion. We propose Lst as an index member of an ancient hormone class called decretins, which suppress insulin output.

Powers AC. Human islet preparations distributed for research exhibit a variety of insulin-secretory profiles. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 308: E592-E602, 2015. First published February 3, 2015 doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00437.2014.-Human islet research is providing new insights into human islet biology and diabetes, using islets isolated at multiple US centers from donors with varying characteristics. This creates challenges for understanding, interpreting, and integrating research findings from the many laboratories that use these islets. In what is, to our knowledge, the first standardized assessment of human islet preparations from multiple isolation centers, we measured insulin secretion from 202 preparations isolated at 15 centers over 11 years and noted five distinct patterns of insulin secretion. Approximately three quarters were appropriately responsive to stimuli, but one quarter were dysfunctional, with unstable basal insulin secretion and/or an impairment in stimulated insulin secretion. Importantly, the patterns of insulin secretion by responsive human islet preparations (stable Baseline and Fold stimulation of insulin secretion) isolated at different centers were similar and improved slightly over the years studied. When all preparations studied were considered, basal and stimulated insulin secretion did not correlate with isolation center, biological differences of the islet donor, or differences in isolation, such as Cold Ischemia Time. Dysfunctional islet preparations could not be predicted from the information provided by the isolation center and had altered expression of genes encoding components of the glucose-sensing pathway, but not of insulin production or cell death. These results indicate that insulin secretion by most preparations from multiple centers is similar but that in vitro responsiveness of human islets cannot be predicted, necessitating preexperimental human islet assessment. These results should be considered when one is designing, interpreting, and integrating experiments using human islets.human; islet; function THE AVAILABILITY OF HUMAN ISLETS for basic and translational research has increased markedly over the past decade, fueling insights into human islet biology and diabetes. Studies of human islets have provided insight into human islet morphology, ␤-cell proliferation (2, 5, 6, 12), epigenetics (2, 4 -6, 12, 22

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The originally published version of this manuscript should have included a table containing the list of primers used for the qPCR screen. Unfortunately, this table was omitted. The supplemental information has now been updated to include this table. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Walker -1 SUMMARY G-protein-coupled-receptors (GPCRs) modulate insulin secretion from β cells and glucagon secretion from α cells. Here, we developed an integrated approach to study the function of primary human islet cells using genetically modified pseudoislets that resemble native islets across multiple parameters. We studied the G i and G q GPCR pathways by expressing the designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) hM4Di or hM3Dq.Activation of G i signaling reduced insulin and glucagon secretion, while activation of G q signaling stimulated glucagon secretion but had both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on insulin secretion. Further, we developed a microperifusion system that allowed synchronous acquisition of GCaMP6f biosensor signal and hormone secretory profiles and showed that the dual effects for G q signaling occur through changes in intracellular Ca 2+ . By combining pseudoislets with a microfluidic system, we co-registered intracellular signaling dynamics and hormone secretion and demonstrated differences in GPCR signaling pathways between human β and α cells.Walker -2