Expression of peptide YY in all four islet cell types in the developing mouse pancreas suggests a common peptide YY-producing progenitor

Abstract

The islets of Langerhans contain four distinct endocrine cell types producing the hormones glucagon, insulin, somatostatin and pancreatic polypeptide. These cell lineages are thought to arise from a common, multipotential progenitor cell whose identity has not been well established. The pancreatic and intestinal hormone, peptide YY, has been previously identified in glucagon-producing cells in islets; however, transgenic mice expressing Simian Virus 40 large T antigen under the control of the peptide YY gene expressed the oncoprotein in β, δ and pancreatic polypeptide cells, and occasionally developed insulinomas, suggesting relationships between peptide YY-producing cells and several islet cell lineages. The four established pancreatic islet cell types were examined for coexpression of peptide YY in islets of normal and transgenic mice throughout development. Peptide YY immunoreactivity was identified in the earliest endocrine cells in the fetal pancreas and was coexpressed in each islet cell type during development. Peptide YY showed a high degree of co-localization with glucagon- and insulin-producing cells in early pancreatic development, but by adulthood, peptide YY was expressed in less than half of the α cells and was no longer expressed in β cells. Peptide YY was also coexpressed with somatostatin and pancreatic polypeptide when these cell types first appeared, but most δ and pancreatic polypeptide cells continued to express peptide YY throughout development. The use of conditions that distinguish peptide YY from the related peptides, pancreatic polypeptide and neuropeptide Y, as well as the ability of the peptide YY gene to direct expression of a reporter gene in islets of transgenic mice, establishes expression of peptide YY in the earliest pancreatic endocrine cells. Coexpression of peptide YY in all islet cell types as they first emerge suggests that the four established islet cell types may arise from a common, previously unrecognized peptide YY-producing progenitor cell.