NGF effects promote the maturation of rat pancreatic beta cells by regulating GLUT2 levels and distribution, and glucokinase activity
The nerve growth factor (NGF) participates in cell survival and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) processes in rat adult beta cells. GSIS is a complex process in which metabolic events and ionic channel activity are finely coupled. GLUT2 and glucokinase (GK) play central roles in GSIS by r...
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Published in | PloS one Vol. 19; no. 6; p. e0303934 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
San Francisco
Public Library of Science
14.06.2024
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The nerve growth factor (NGF) participates in cell survival and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) processes in rat adult beta cells. GSIS is a complex process in which metabolic events and ionic channel activity are finely coupled. GLUT2 and glucokinase (GK) play central roles in GSIS by regulating the rate of the glycolytic pathway. The biphasic release of insulin upon glucose stimulation characterizes mature adult beta cells. On the other hand, beta cells obtained from neonatal, suckling, and weaning rats are considered immature because they secrete low levels of insulin and do not increase insulin secretion in response to high glucose. The weaning of rats (at postnatal day 20 in laboratory conditions) involves a dietary transition from maternal milk to standard chow. It is characterized by increased basal plasma glucose levels and insulin levels, which we consider physiological insulin resistance. On the other hand, we have observed that incubating rat beta cells with NGF increases GSIS by increasing calcium currents in neonatal cells. In this work, we studied the effects of NGF on the regulation of cellular distribution and activity of GLUT2 and GK to explore its potential role in the maturation of GSIS in beta cells from P20 rats. Pancreatic islet cells from both adult and P20 rats were isolated and incubated with 5.6 mM or 15.6 mM glucose with and without NGF for 4 hours. Specific immunofluorescence assays were conducted following the incubation period to detect insulin and GLUT2. Additionally, we measured glucose uptake, glucokinase activity, and insulin secretion assays at 5.6 mM or 15.6 mM glucose concentrations. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests. RCV and RIOH also contributed equally to this work. |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0303934 |