Three mutant insulins in man

We have previously identified a structurally abnormal insulin in the serum and pancreas of a middle-aged man with diabetes mellitus which arose from a leucine for phenylalanine substitution at position 24 or 25 of the insulin B chain; further analysis of the patient's leukocyte DNA showed that one of the patient's insulin alleles had undergone mutation resulting in loss of an MboII restriction site normally present in the human insulin gene. Two additional and unrelated patients with the same clinical syndrome have now been identified (ref. 4 and unpublished results). All of these patients showed hyperglycaemia typical of diabetes and with marked hyperinsulinaemia typical of insulin resistance, but all three show normal tolerance to exogenously administered insulin. As the opportunity of examining pancreatic tissue from patients suspected of secreting insulin variants is rare, we have developed a method combining HPLC and radioimmunoassay to identify insulin variants isolated from human sera. By this method we have shown that all three patients noted above secrete structurally variant and chemically distinct insulins. In correction of our original assignment, one is identified as [LeuB25]insulin.     

高糖诱导人脐血间充质干细胞向胰岛样细胞分化

目的:探讨脐血间充质干细胞向胰岛样细胞分化的潜能.方法:分离脐血有核细胞,将其置于MesencultTM培养基中进行培养,并利用贴壁法进行纯化、扩增.扩增后的脐血间充质干细胞用含体积分数5%胎牛血清的H-DMEM持续诱导.采用胰岛素免疫荧光染色对诱导后的细胞进行鉴定,定量检测胰岛素分泌水平及其对葡萄糖刺激的反应性.结果:诱导后,细胞形态发生明显变化,变圆而且聚集成团;细胞的胰岛素免疫荧光染色为阳性;而且细胞能分泌少量胰岛素,并对糖刺激具有反应性.结论:在高糖环境中,脐血间充质干细胞具有向胰岛样细胞分化的潜能.     

Direct addition of insulin inhibits a high affinity Ca2+-ATPase in isolated adipocyte plasma membranes.

The mechanism by which insulin regulates cellular metabolism remains unknown although indirect evidence suggests that alterations in intracellular calcium are important. More specifically, it has been proposed that insulin triggers an increase in intracellular calcium which is responsible for the subsequent modification of metabolic activities. The cell maintains a large electrochemical gradient for ionised calcium between the cytoplasm (less than 10(-6) M, as determined for muscle and nerve) and the extracellular environment (less than 10(-3) M). The plasma membrane may, therefore, be important in the regulation of calcium homeostasis, as a slight alteration in the processes maintaining this gradient could result in marked changes in cytoplasmic calcium. One such process is the active extrusion of calcium from the cell by a high affinity calcium-stimulated ATPase (Ca2+-ATPase). Such a mechanism has been well established in red cells and is postulated in nerve, liver and muscle. We have identified a high affinity Ca2+-ATPase in a plasma membrane-enriched subcellular fraction isolated from rat adipocytes which may provide the enzymatic basis for a calcium extrusion pump. We demonstrate here that the Ca2+-ATPase is specifically inhibited by the direct addition of physiological concentrations of insulin to the direct addition of physiological concentrations of insulin to the isolated plasma membranes. This effect suggests that direct regulation of calcium homeostasis may represent an important event in the mechanism of action of insulin.     

小檗碱和葛根素对卵巢颗粒细胞胰岛素抵抗的调控

 建立了体外的卵巢胰岛素抵抗模型。从卵巢内分子水平探讨胰岛素信号传导和促性腺激素信号传导的相互关系，揭示多囊卵巢综合征患者糖代谢异常和生殖功能障碍的关系；通过药物筛选得出两味中药增敏剂，与西药增敏剂进行了对照研究，探讨了其对卵巢颗粒细胞功能的影响。     

Pancreastatin, a novel pancreatic peptide that inhibits insulin secretion

In mammalian tissues the C-terminal amide structure has been found to occur only in neuroactive or hormonally-active peptides. About half known neuropeptide and peptide hormones have this unique chemical feature. Using a chemical detection method, a search for previously unknown peptides that possess the C-terminal amide structure in extracts of brain and intestine was carried out and a number of novel neuropeptides and hormonal peptides, designated neuropeptide Y, PHI, peptide YY, galanin and neuropeptide K were isolated. We recently performed a similar search in porcine pancreas and found a high concentration of a peptide having a glycine amide at its C-terminus. Here we report the isolation, primary structure and biological activity of this novel peptide. The 49-residue peptide strongly inhibits glucose-induced insulin release from the isolated perfused pancreas and was therefore named pancreastatin. It may be important in the regulation of insulin secretion and in the pathogenesis and treatment of diabetes mellitus.     

Hypoinsulinaemia, glucose intolerance and diminished beta-cell size in S6K1-deficient mice

Insulin controls glucose homeostasis by regulating glucose use in peripheral tissues, and its own production and secretion in pancreatic beta cells. These responses are largely mediated downstream of the insulin receptor substrates, IRS-1 and IRS-2 (refs 4-8), through distinct signalling pathways. Although a number of effectors of these pathways have been identified, their roles in mediating glucose homeostasis are poorly defined. Here we show that mice deficient for S6 kinase 1, an effector of the phosphatidylinositide-3-OH kinase signalling pathway, are hypoinsulinaemic and glucose intolerant. Whereas insulin resistance is not observed in isolated muscle, such mice exhibit a sharp reduction in glucose-induced insulin secretion and in pancreatic insulin content. This is not due to a lesion in glucose sensing or insulin production, but to a reduction in pancreatic endocrine mass, which is accounted for by a selective decrease in beta-cell size. The observed phenotype closely parallels those of preclinical type 2 diabetes mellitus, in which malnutrition-induced hypoinsulinaemia predisposes individuals to glucose intolerance.     

基因芯片研究隐丹参酮对胰岛素抵抗卵巢颗粒细胞基因表达的影响

应用基因芯片技术,从基因水平分析隐丹参酮对胰岛素抵抗卵巢颗粒细胞基因表达的影响.采用猪卵巢颗粒细胞作为体外研究对象,利用磷酯酰肌醇-3激酶(PI-3K)特异性抑制剂--沃曼青霉素人工诱导猪卵巢胰岛素抵抗的细胞模型,以0.02 g/L隐丹参酮进行干预,继续培养48 h后,以Trizol法提取总RNA,采用猪全基因表达谱芯片技术筛选出差异表达基因.隐丹参酮组与沃曼处理组相比,共筛查出42个差异基因,其中22个基因表达下调,20个基因表达上调.研究表明,隐丹参酮可以通过调节多个基因、作用多个信号途径来改善胰岛素抵抗卵巢颗粒细胞的状态.     

Decreased expression of the insulin-responsive glucose transporter in diabetes and fasting

Cellular resistance to insulin caused by a reduction in insulin-mediated glucose uptake can be produced in rats by chemically inducing diabetes with streptozotocin and by fasting. Two glucose transporter isoforms are expressed in fat cells: (1) the insulin-responsive species which is found only in fat and muscle, and (2) a species corresponding to the erythrocyte/Hep G2/rat brain transporter. We show here that fat cells isolated from streptozotocin diabetic rats and from fasted rats show a significant (60-80%) decrease in the amount of immunologically detectable insulin-sensitive glucose transporter and no change in the level of the Hep G2/rat brain transporter. Administration of insulin and refeeding, respectively, result in a return of the insulin-sensitive glucose transporter to levels that are normal or slightly above normal. Thus, peripheral tissue insulin resistance could be due to the specific reduction in the amount of insulin-sensitive glucose transporter.     

Leukocytes express a novel gene encoding a putative transmembrane protein-kinase devoid of an extracellular domain

Tyrosine-specific phosphorylation of proteins is a key to the control of diverse pathways leading to cell growth and differentiation. The protein-tyrosine kinases described to date are either transmembrane proteins having an extracellular ligand binding domain or cytoplasmic proteins related to the v-src oncogene. Most of these proteins are expressed in a wide variety of cells and tissues; few are tissue-specific. Previous studies have suggested that lymphokines could mediate haematopoietic cell survival through their action on glucose transport, regulated in some cells through the protein-tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor. We have investigated the possibility that insulin receptor-like genes are expressed specifically in haematopoietic cells. Using the insulin receptor-related avian sarcoma oncogene v-ros as a probe, we have isolated and characterized the complementary DNA of a novel gene, ltk (leukocyte tyrosine kinase). The ltk gene is expressed mainly in leukocytes, is related to several tyrosine kinase receptor genes of the insulin receptor family and has unique structural properties: it apparently encodes a transmembrane protein devoid of an extracellular domain. Two candidate ltk proteins have been identified with antibodies in the mouse thymus, and have properties indicating that they are integral membrane proteins. These features suggest that ltk could be a signal transduction subunit for one or several of the haematopoietic receptors.     

Insulin improves cardiac myocytes contractile function recovery in simulated ischemia-reperfusion： Key role of Akt

There are abundant insulin receptors on the membrane of myocytes, which renders cardiomyocytes typical target cells of insulin. Accumulating evidence has indicated that abnormal insulin level is an important predisposing factor in diabetes-related cardiovascular disorders and may contribute to the development of cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary heart diseaseand heart failure. It has been shown that insulin couldreduce infarct size in experimental animals subjected to myocardial ischem…