Cited by 354Pancreatic function and diabetesDiabetes Treatment and ManagementNeuropeptides and Animal Physiology

Comprehensive alpha, beta and delta cell transcriptomes reveal that ghrelin selectively activates delta cells and promotes somatostatin release from pancreatic islets

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DiGruccio, Michael R., Mawla, Alex M., Donaldson, Cynthia J., Noguchi, Glyn M., Vaughan, Joan, Cowing-Zitron, Christopher, van der Meulen, Talitha, Huising, Mark O.·2016·Molecular Metabolism

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Complex local crosstalk amongst endocrine cells within the islet ensures tight coordination of their endocrine output. This is illustrated by the recent demonstration that the negative feedback control by delta cells within pancreatic islets determines the homeostatic set-point for plasma glucose during mouse postnatal development. However, the close association of islet endocrine cells that facilitates paracrine crosstalk also complicates the distinction between effects mediated directly on beta cells from indirect effects mediated via local intermediates, such as somatostatin from delta cells. METHODS: To resolve this problem, we generated reporter mice that allow collection of pure pancreatic delta cells along with alpha and beta cells from the same islets and generated comprehensive transcriptomes for each islet endocrine cell type. These transcriptomes afford an unparalleled view of the receptors expressed by delta, alpha and beta cells, and allow the prediction of which signal targets which endocrine cell type with great accuracy. RESULTS: From these transcriptomes, we discovered that the ghrelin receptor is expressed exclusively by delta cells within the islet, which was confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization and qPCR. Indeed, ghrelin increases intracellular calcium in delta cells in intact mouse islets, measured by GCaMP6 and robustly potentiates glucose-stimulated somatostatin secretion on mouse and human islets in both static and perfusion assays. In contrast, des-acyl-ghrelin at the same dose had no effect on somatostatin secretion and did not block the actions of ghrelin. CONCLUSIONS: These results offer a straightforward explanation for the well-known insulinostatic actions of ghrelin. Rather than engaging beta cells directly, ghrelin engages delta cells to promote local inhibitory feedback that attenuates insulin release. These findings illustrate the power of our approach to resolve some of the long-standing conundrums with regard to the rich feedback that occurs within the islet that is integral to islet physiology and therefore highly relevant to diabetes.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.molmet.2016.04.007

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  • The gap junctional conductance between β-cells and δ-cells is estimated to be 23 pS, only about 10% of that between pairs of β-cells.

    “We estimate (Equation 3.2. in ref. 26) the gap junctional conductance between β-cells and δ-cells to be 23 pS.”

    From Loss of electrical β-cell to δ-cell coupling underlies impaired hypoglycaemia-induced glucagon secretion in type-1 diabetes (2024) · cites this paper as [16]

    The Discussion describes similarities between β- and δ-cells and their coordinated activity, but gives no gap-junctional conductance estimate. Searches for “23 pS” and β–δ electrical coupling found no passage supporting the numerical claim or the 10% comparison. (LLM, conf=0.75)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Both mouse and human β-cells express Hcn/HCN2-4.

    “Both mouse (3, 146) and human (68, 475) β-cells express Hcn/HCN2-4.”

    From Pancreatic β-Cell Electrical Activity and Insulin Secretion: Of Mice and Men (2018) · cites this paper as [146]

    The Results section on transcriptome generation describes mouse β-cell transcriptomes, and the Methods section notes that human islets were obtained. Neither those passages nor searches for Hcn2 and hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels establish Hcn/HCN2–4 expression in β-cells of either species. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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  • vNUT is expressed in mouse β-cells.

    “which is expressed in mouse β-cells(3, 146).”

    From Pancreatic β-Cell Electrical Activity and Insulin Secretion: Of Mice and Men (2018) · cites this paper as [146]

    The Results section reports transcriptomes of mouse β-cells but does not identify vNUT as an expressed gene. Searches for vNUT, Slc17a9, and vesicular nucleotide transporter found no passage addressing its expression; page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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  • GABA transporters GAT1-3 are only expressed at low levels in mouse and human β-cells.

    “However, these are only expressed at low levels in mouse and human β-cells alike (3, 68, 146, 475).”

    From Pancreatic β-Cell Electrical Activity and Insulin Secretion: Of Mice and Men (2018) · cites this paper as [146]

    The Results section discusses GPCR expression in islet cells, not GABA transporter expression. Searches for GAT1–3, their gene names, and low expression in mouse and human β-cells found no passage in our copy addressing the claim. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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  • Both human and mouse β-cells express Slc6a17/SLC6a17, which encodes a synaptic vesicle glycine transporter.

    “Both human and mouse β-cells also express Slc6a17/SLC6a17 (3, 68, 146, 475) that encodes a synaptic vesicle glycine transporter (502).”

    From Pancreatic β-Cell Electrical Activity and Insulin Secretion: Of Mice and Men (2018) · cites this paper as [146]

    The Results section, “Generation and validation of alpha, beta and delta cell transcriptomes” (page unavailable), describes mouse β-cell transcriptomes but does not report Slc6a17 expression. Searches for Slc6a17/SLC6A17 and glycine transporter found no passage establishing its expression in either mouse or human β-cells. The transporter-function clause has a separate citation in the citing sentence and is not judged here. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Authors
DiGruccio, M. R., Mawla, A. M., Donaldson, C. J., Noguchi, G. M., Vaughan, J., Cowing-Zitron, C., van der Meulen, T., & Huising, M. O.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Davis (US)
  • Salk Institute for Biological Studies (US)
Corresponding author
Huising, Mark O.
Venue
Molecular Metabolism
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-07
Volume
5
Issue
7
Pages
449-458
ISSN
2212-8778 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2346764160
Cited by
353
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 12
FWCI
33.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Molecular Metabolism (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (2-2013-54)
  • Hartwell Foundation (201500731)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Pancreatic function and diabetes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Treatment and Management
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
Keywords
ghrelin, pancreatic delta cells, somatostatin secretion, growth hormone secretagogue receptor, pancreatic islets, islet endocrine cells, alpha cells, pancreatic beta cells, intracellular calcium, des-acyl ghrelin, paracrine signaling, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, islet transcriptome, reporter mice, diabetes mellitus

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