| First Author | Villasenor A | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | Dis Model Mech | Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 9-10 | Pages | 567-80 |
| PubMed ID | 20616094 | Mgi Jnum | J:163324 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4821682 | Doi | 10.1242/dmm.003210 |
| Citation | Villasenor A, et al. (2010) Rgs16 and Rgs8 in embryonic endocrine pancreas and mouse models of diabetes. Dis Model Mech 3(9-10):567-80 |
| abstractText | Diabetes is characterized by the loss, or gradual dysfunction, of insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells. Although beta-cells can replicate in younger adults, the available diabetes therapies do not specifically target beta-cell regeneration. Novel approaches are needed to discover new therapeutics and to understand the contributions of endocrine progenitors and beta-cell regeneration during islet expansion. Here, we show that the regulators of G protein signaling Rgs16 and Rgs8 are expressed in pancreatic progenitor and endocrine cells during development, then extinguished in adults, but reactivated in models of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Exendin-4, a glucagon-like peptide 1 (Glp-1)/incretin mimetic that stimulates beta-cell expansion, insulin secretion and normalization of blood glucose levels in diabetics, also promoted re-expression of Rgs16::GFP within a few days in pancreatic ductal-associated cells and islet beta-cells. These findings show that Rgs16::GFP and Rgs8::GFP are novel and early reporters of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-stimulated beta-cell expansion after therapeutic treatment and in diabetes models. Rgs16 and Rgs8 are likely to control aspects of islet progenitor cell activation, differentiation and beta-cell expansion in embryos and metabolically stressed adults. |
