Endocrine pancreas: three-dimensional reconstruction shows two types of islets of langerhans.

Three-dimensional reconstructions of islets of Langerhans, based on immunofluorescent staining of successive serial sections with antiserums to insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide reveal a marked difference in the number of cells containing glucagon and pancreatic polypeptide depending on the anatomical location of the islet in the pancreas. The two types of islets are situated in regions of exocrine tissue that are drained by different excretory ducts. This demonstration contradicts the assumption that all islets in the pancreas are similar in their endocrine cell content.

Exocrine pancreas: evidence for topographic partition of secretory function.

The pattern of amylase, lipase, and chymotrpsinogen content found in pancreatic exocrine tissue surrounding the islets of Langerhans (periinsular halos) differs from that of the rest, or teleinsular part, of the pancreas. Such a topographic partition of secretory function may play a role in the regulation of pancreatic juice composition.

Insulin release by emiocytosis: demonstration with freeze-etching technique.

The technique of freeze-etching for electron microscopy applied to isolated islets of Langerhans has permitted a successful evaluation of emiocytotic events on the cell surface. The frequency of these events in stimulated cells suggests that emiocytosis represents a significant mechanism for insulin release.

Exocytosis-endocytosis coupling in the pancreatic beta cell.

The stimulation of the release of insulin by glucose is accompanied by an enhanced uptake of cytochemically demonstrable horseradish peroxidase into endocytotic vesicles within the beta cells. An exocytosis-endocytosis coupling might represent a mechanism by which membrane constituents are recycled within the beta cells under conditions of increased secretory activity.

Somatostatin: widespread abnormality in tissues of spontaneously diabetic mice.

Diabetic mice of the C57BL/6J obob and C57BL/Ks dbdb strains show a reduction in pancreatic somatostatin concentration accompanied in the obob strain by a striking decrease in the number of somatostatin-containing cells in the islets. Somatostatin concentration is also decreased in the stomach but increased in the hypothalamus. These findings suggest different control mechanisms for somatostatin in the hypothalamus compared to the gut and pancreas and exclude a primary genetic abnormality of somatostatin cells in the mutants.

A possible role for the adenylcyclase system in insulin secretion.

A possible role for adenylcyclase in insulin secretion was investigated. Isoproterenol, a predominantly beta-adrenergic agent, when mixed with an alpha-adrenergic blocking agent (phenoxybenzamine), stimulated insulin secretion from pieces of the rat's pancreas in vitro. Theophylline, caffeine, 3'5'-cyclic AMP, glucagon, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), and thyrotropin (TSH), all of which are thought to act through the adenylcyclase systems in the liver and adipose tissue, also stimulated insulin secretion in vitro; oxytocin and vasopressin, which do not stimulate lipolysis in adipose tissue, were inactive. In all cases, stimulation of insulin secretion could not be detected when glucose was absent or present in only low concentrations (less than 100 mg/100 ml) and was maximal at high levels of glucose (300 mg/100 ml). When pancreatic tissue was obtained from normoglycemic rats and contained no detectable glycogen in the Islets, the stimulant effects of glucose and of theophylline were reduced or abolished by mannoheptulose and 2-deoxyglucose. When tissue was derived from rats infused for 8-10 hr with glucose and contained glycogen, theophylline, even in the absence of glucose, stimulated secretion and this effect was reduced by 2-deoxyglucose but not by mannoheptulose. It is suggested that the beta-cell contains an adenylcyclase system through which phosphorylase and possibly phosphofructokinase could be activated; and that insulin secretion could depend upon and be regulated by hormones and other substances which influence the rate at which glycolysis proceeds within the beta-cell.

The stimulus-secretion coupling of glucose-induced insulin release. VII. A proposed site of action for adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate.

Glucose-induced insulin release is thought to result from the following sequence of events in the beta cell: glucose metabolism leading to the production of a metabolic signal, net calcium uptake by the beta cell in response to the signal, and interaction between calcium and a microtubular-microfilamentous system, leading to emiocytosis of the secretory granules. Dibutyryl-cyclic AMP (db-cAMP) and theophylline are known to potentiate glucose-induced insulin release, their insulinotropic action being most marked at high glucose concentrations. Based on the above mentioned concepts, it was considered in the present experiments that the primary site of action of cAMP in the beta cell could correspond to either a facilitation of glucose metabolism, a modification of calcium distribution, or an interaction with the microtubular-microfilamentous system. The first of these hypotheses appeared unlikely because db-cAMP and theophylline, in sharp contrast with other agents known to affect glucose metabolism in the beta cell, did not modify glucose-induced calcium uptake by isolated islets incubated at high glucose concentrations. The last hypothesis also appeared unlikely since theophylline did not interfere with the deleterious effect of colchicine on the microtubular system, and since vincristine or colchicine did not differentially affect the respective insulinotropic action of glucose and theophylline. An effect of cAMP upon calcium distribution in the beta cell was suggested by the following findings. Whereas glucose and leucine were unable to promote insulin release in the absence of extracellular calcium, the addition of db-cAMP or theophylline to the calcium-depleted media partially restored theinsulinotropic action of glucose and leucine. Moreover, theophylline caused a dramatic increase in (45)Ca efflux from perifused islets, even in the absence of glucose. It is concluded that the insulinotropic action of cAMP could be due to a glucose-independent translocation of calcium within the beta cell, from an organelle-bound pool to a cytoplasmic pool of ionized calcium readily available for transport across the cell membrane.

Glucagon release from rat pancreatic islets. A combined morphological and functional approach.

The release of glucagon induced in isolated rat islets by arginine or by calcium deprivation has been subjected to combined functional and morphological quantifications. Arginine-stimulated glucagon release was associated with a significant increase of morphological events linked to exocytosis. By contrast, the paradoxical events linked to exocytosis. By contrast, the paradoxical release of glucagon provoked by calcium deprivation, although accompanied by a significant loss of granule stores, was not associated with an increase of morphologically detectable exocytosis.

Role of microtubules in the synthesis, conversion, and release of (pro)insulin. A biochemical and radioautographic study in rat islets.

In the pancreatic B cell, microtubules are thought to be involved in the process of insulin release. Their possible participation in the sequence of events leading from the biosynthesis and conversion of proinsulin to the release of newly synthesized insulin was investigated in rat isolated islets exposed to colchicine (0.1 mM). When the islets were preincubated for 30 min with colchicine and [3H]-leucine and, thereafter, incubated for two successive periods of 90 min each, still in the presence of colchicine, the release of preformed insulin was progressively inhibited and that of newly synthesized hormone delayed. When the islets were preincubated for 120 min with colchicine, subsequently pulse-labeled with [3H]leucine, and eventually examined by ultrastructural autoradiography, the export of newly synthesized proinsulin out of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, its transit through the Golgi complex, and its eventual packaging in secretory granules were all retarded. This situation was associated with a delayed conversion of proinsulin to insulin. Under the same experimental conditions, colchicine failed to affect the oxidation of glucose and adenylate charge in the islets. The effect of colchicine upon the release of preformed and newly synthesized insulin was not reproduced by lumicolchicine. It is concluded that colchicine interferes with the system controlling the intracellular transfer of secretory material from site of synthesis to site of release. This interference is likely to be linked to the effect of colchicine on microtubules.

A morphological basis for intercellular communication between alpha- and beta-cells in the endocrine pancreas.

By degranulating beta-cells in the islets of Langerhans of the rat with sulfonylurea, it has been possible to distinguish unambiguously alpha-cells from beta-cells in freeze-fracture replicas. In such preparations, we found morphologically typical tight and gap junctions occurring between alpha- and beta-cells. The presence of gap junctions offers indirect evidence that these cells are coupled with one another; coupling may influence the secretory behavior of alpha- and beta-cells maintaining glucose homeostasis within tightly constricted limits.

Dynamics of insulin release and microtubular-microfilamentous system. I. Effect of cytochalasin B.

In order to assess the participation of the microfilamentous cell web in the multiphasic response of the pancreatic beta cell, the effect of cytochalasin B upon both glucose- and sulfonylurea-induced insulin release was investigated in the perfused isolated pancreas. Cytochalasin B failed to affect the basal rate of insulin release, but enhanced the initial and later phases of insulin secretion in response to either glucose or gliclazide. In addition, cytochalasin B lowered the threshold concentration for the stimulant action of glucose upon insulin release. Ultrastructural studies supported the concept of a specific interaction of cytochalasin B with the microfilamentous cell web of the beta cell. It is concluded that the integrity of such a structure is equally important for both the initial and later secretory responses of the beta cell to various insulinotropic agents.

Anomeric specificity of hexokinase in rat, human, and murine tumor cells.

In tumoral cells derived from the insulin-producing rat cell line RINm5F, both low- and high-Km glucose-phosphorylating enzymic activities were present. The hexokinase-like enzyme was inhibited by glucose 6-phosphate and displayed a greater affinity for but lower maximal velocity with alpha-D-glucose than beta-D-glucose. A comparable anomeric behavior of hexokinase was observed in breast cancer (MCF-7) and lymphocytic leukemia (P388) cells. Thus, the anomeric specificity of hexokinase in tumoral cells was not different from that recently characterized in normal mammalian cells.

Hexose metabolism in pancreatic islets: time-course of the oxidative response to D-glucose.

The time-course for the generation of 3HOH from D-[5-3H]glucose and for the production of 14CO2, 14C-labelled acidic metabolites and radioactive amino acids from D-[3,4-14C]glucose, D-[2-14C]glucose and D-[6-14C]glucose was monitored, over 60 to 120 min incubation, in both rat pancreatic islets and parotid cells exposed to a low or high concentration of the hexose. In islets stimulated by D-glucose, a progressive increase in the oxidation rate of glucose-derived acetyl residues was observed. Such a phenomenon was not observed in islets exposed to a low concentration of D-glucose, concerned specifically the oxidation of acetyl residues in the Krebs cycle as distinct from their generation in the reaction catalyzed by pyruvate dehydrogenase, and failed to occur in parotid cells. It is concluded that the increase in the oxidation rate of glucose-derived acetyl residues found in pancreatic islets represents an unusual phenomenon not encountered in other cell types and specifically regulated in terms of its time-course, concentration dependency and relationship to other oxidative events.

Contrasting modes of action of D-glucose and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose as protectors of the rat pancreatic B-cell against alloxan.

Both D-glucose and its nonmetabolized analog 3-O-methyl-D-glucose are known to protect the pancreatic B-cell against the toxic action of alloxan, as if the protective action of hexoses were to involve a membrane-associated glucoreceptor site. In the present study, the protective actions of the two hexoses were found to differ from one another in several respects. Using the process of glucose-stimulated insulin release by rat pancreatic islets as an index of alloxan cytotoxicity, we observed that the protective action of D-glucose was suppressed by D-mannoheptulose and menadione, impaired by NH4Cl, and little affected by aminooxyacetate. These findings and the fact that D-glucose failed to decrease [2-14C]alloxan uptake by the islets suggest that the protective action of D-glucose depends on an increase in the generation rate of reducing equivalents (NADH and NADPH). The latter view is supported by the observation that the protective action of a noncarbohydrate nutrient, 2-ketoisocaproate, was also abolished by menadione. Incidentally, the protective action of 2-ketoisocaproate was apparently a mitochondrial phenomenon, it not being suppressed by aminooxyacetate. In contrast to that of glucose, the protective action of 3-O-methyl-D-glucose was unaffected by D-mannoheptulose, failed to be totally suppressed by menadione, and coincided with a decreased uptake of [2-14C]-alloxan by the islets. It is concluded that the protective action of D-glucose in linked to the metabolism of the sugar in islet cells, whereas that of 3-O-methyl-D-glucose results from inhibition of alloxan uptake. This conclusion reinforces our opinion that the presence in the B-cell of an alleged stereospecific membrane glucoreceptor represents a mythical concept.

The stimulus-secretion coupling of amino acid-induced insulin release metabolic interaction of L-asparagine and L-leucine in pancreatic islets.

Because L-asparagine augments insulin release evoked by L-leucine, the metabolism of these two amino acids was investigated in rat pancreatic islets. L-Leucine inhibited the uptake and deamidation of L-asparagine, but failed to exert any obvious primary effect upon the further catabolism of aspartate derived from exogenous asparagine. L-Asparagine augmented the oxidation of L-leucine, an effect possibly attributable to activation of 2-ketoisocaproate dehydrogenase. The association of L-asparagine and L-leucine exerted a sparing action on the utilization of endogenous amino acids, so that the integrated rate of nutrients oxidation was virtually identical in the sole presence of L-leucine and simultaneous presence of L-asparagine and L-leucine, respectively. It is proposed that the enhancing action of L-asparagine upon insulin release evoked by L-leucine is attributable to an increased generation rate of cytosolic NADPH rather than any increase in nutrients oxidation.

Transglutaminase activity in pancreatic islets.

1. Pancreatic islet homogenates catalyze, in a Ca2+-dependent fashion, the incorporation of [2,5-3H]histamine, [1,4-14C]putrescine, [1,2-3H]agmatine, [14C]methylamine and L-[U-14C]lysine in N,N-dimethylcasein. 2. Using [2,5-3H]histamine as the amine donor, the Km for Ca2+ and histamine amounts to 90 microM and 0.7 mM, respectively. 3. The incorporation of [2,5-3H]histamine into N,N-dimethylcasein is inhibited by monodansylcadaverine, N-p-tosyl glycine, bacitracin and methylamine, the relative extent of inhibition depending on the respective concentrations of Ca2+, inhibitor and amine donor. 4. Bacitracin and methylamine, but not N-p-tosyl glycine, cause a dose-related inhibition of glucose-stimulated insulin release. 5. It is concluded that, in pancreatic islets, the Ca2+-responsive transglutaminase activity plays a critical role in the process of glucose-induced insulin release.

Effects of high extracellular K(+) concentrations, diazoxide and/or Ca(2+) deprivation upon D-glucose metabolism in pancreatic islets.

A rise in D-glucose concentration may augment insulin release independently of changes in K(+) conductance or Ca(2+) influx in pancreatic islet cells, the insulinotropic action of the hexose remaining dependent on an increased generation of high-energy phosphates. In the present study, therefore, it was investigated to which extent the procedures currently used to assess the modalities of the secretory response to D-glucose independent of its effect on ATP-sensitive K(+) channels and Ca(2+) inflow may themselves affect the catabolism of the hexose in isolated rat pancreatic islets. A rise in the extracellular K(+) concentration from 5 to 30 or 60 mM failed to significantly affect the metabolism of D-glucose. At 90 mM K(+), however, the maximal velocity of the glycolytic flux was decreased and the apparent K(m) for D-glucose lowered, without an obvious alteration of the preferential stimulation of oxidative mitochondrial events in response to a rise in D-glucose concentration. Such a preferential stimulation was abolished, however, either by diazoxide at a low, but not high, K(+) concentration or by Ca(2+) deprivation, in the absence or presence of diazoxide, at a high K(+) concentration. It is speculated that these metabolic changes may be attributable, in part at least, to an altered activity of key cytosolic (e.g. pyruvate kinase) and mitochondrial (e.g. FAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase) enzymes.

The interaction of phosphorylase a with D-glucose displays alpha-stereospecificity.

Half-maximal inhibition of phosphorylase a required a much lower concentration of alpha-D-glucose (4 mM) than of the beta-anomer (14 mM) and of 1-deoxyglucose (about 25 mM). beta-D-Glucose was almost ineffective at concentrations of 1-2.5 mM, but at 50 mM the two anomers were equipotent. A similar picture emerged when the stimulatory effects of the glucose anomers and of 1-deoxyglucose were investigated on the inactivation of phosphorylase by phosphorylase phosphatase. However, upon addition of either glucose anomer (5-20 mM) to a suspension of isolated hepatocytes, the inactivation of phosphorylase occurred at the same rate. It is shown that, in the latter conditions, the rate of intracellular mutarotation considerably exceeds the rate of glucose transport. This results presumably in a rapid anomeric equilibrium in the liver cells.

Phosphoglucoisomerase-catalyzed interconversion of hexose phosphates; diastereotopic specificity, isotopic discrimination and intramolecular hydrogen transfer.

When D-[1-3H]fructose 6-phosphate generated from D-[2-3H]glucose 6-phosphate is converted, in a monodirectional manner to D-glucose 6-phosphate and then 6-phospho-D-gluconate, about 42% of the radioactivity is transferred from the C1 of the ketohexose ester to the C2 of the aldohexose phosphate, whereas the remaining 58% are produced as 3H2O. The velocity of the reaction catalyzed by phosphoglucoisomerase represents, in the case of the tritiated substrate, only 43% of that recorded with D-[U-14C]fructose 6-phosphate, such an isotopic discrimination being attributable mainly to a difference in maximal velocity rather than affinity. The phenomena of both intramolecular hydrogen transfer and isotopic discrimination were less pronounced than when D-[2-3H]glucose 6-phosphate is converted, in a monodirectional manner, to D-fructose 6-phosphate and then D-fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. In contrast, when either D-[1-3H]glucose 6-phosphate or D-[1-3H]fructose 6-phosphate prepared from D-[1-3H]glucose were tested, no 3H2O was formed, all radioactivity being recovered, respectively, in tritiated D-fructose 1,6-bisphosphate or NADP3H. Nevertheless, phosphoglucoisomerase was also found to discriminate between D-[U-14C]glucose 6-phosphate and D-[1-3H]glucose 6-phosphate or between D-[U-14C]fructose 6-phosphate and D-[1-3H]fructose 6-phosphate prepared from D-[1-3H]glucose. The reaction velocity with the tritiated esters averaged 78-83% of those recorded with the 14C-labelled esters. Such an isotopic discrimination was again attributable mainly to a difference in maximal velocity rather than affinity. These findings indicate that the mode of preparation of D-[1-3H]fructose cannot be ignored in considering the fate of this tritiated hexose, as ruled by the intrinsic properties, and especially the diastereotopic specificity of phosphoglucoisomerase.

Phosphoglucoisomerase-catalyzed interconversion of hexose phosphates; comparison with phosphomannoisomerase.

The isotopic discrimination, diastereotopic specificity and intramolecular hydrogen transfer characterizing the reaction catalyzed by phosphomannoisomerase are examined. During the monodirectional conversion of D-[2-3H]mannose 6-phosphate to D-fructose 6-phosphate and D-fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, the reaction velocity is one order of magnitude lower than with D-[U-14C]mannose 6-phosphate and little tritium (less than 6%) is transferred intramolecularly. Inorganic phosphate decreases the reaction velocity but favours the intramolecular transfer of tritium. Likewise, when D-[1-3H]fructose 6-phosphate prepared from D-[1-3H]glucose is exposed solely to phosphomannoisomerase, the generation of tritiated metabolites is virtually restricted to 3H2O and occurs at a much lower rate than the production of D-[U-14C]mannose 6-phosphate from D-[U-14C]fructose 6-phosphate. However, no 3H2O is formed when D-[1-3H]fructose 6-phosphate generated from D-[2-3H]glucose is exposed to phosphomannoisomerase, indicating that the diastereotopic specificity of the latter enzyme represents a mirror image of that of phosphoglucoisomerase. Advantage is taken of such a contrasting enzymic behaviour to assess the back-and-forth flow through the reaction catalyzed by phosphomannoisomerase in intact cells exposed to D-[1-3H]glucose, D-[5-3H]glucose or D-[6-3H]glucose. Relative to the rate of glycolysis, this back-and-forth flow amounted to approx. 4% in human erythrocytes and rat parotid cells, 9% in tumoral cells of the RINm5F line and 47% in rat pancreatic islets.