Islet-1 Is essential for pancreatic β-cell function

BN Ediger, A Du, J Liu, CS Hunter, ER Walp… - Diabetes, 2014 - Am Diabetes Assoc
BN Ediger, A Du, J Liu, CS Hunter, ER Walp, J Schug, KH Kaestner, R Stein, DA Stoffers
Diabetes, 2014Am Diabetes Assoc
Islet-1 (Isl-1) is essential for the survival and ensuing differentiation of pancreatic endocrine
progenitors. Isl-1 remains expressed in all adult pancreatic endocrine lineages; however, its
specific function in the postnatal pancreas is unclear. Here we determine whether Isl-1 plays
a distinct role in the postnatal β-cell by performing physiological and morphometric analyses
of a tamoxifen-inducible, β-cell–specific Isl-1 loss-of-function mouse: Isl-1L/L; Pdx1-
CreERTm. Ablating Isl-1 in postnatal β-cells reduced glucose tolerance without significantly …
Islet-1 (Isl-1) is essential for the survival and ensuing differentiation of pancreatic endocrine progenitors. Isl-1 remains expressed in all adult pancreatic endocrine lineages; however, its specific function in the postnatal pancreas is unclear. Here we determine whether Isl-1 plays a distinct role in the postnatal β-cell by performing physiological and morphometric analyses of a tamoxifen-inducible, β-cell–specific Isl-1 loss-of-function mouse: Isl-1L/L; Pdx1-CreERTm. Ablating Isl-1 in postnatal β-cells reduced glucose tolerance without significantly reducing β-cell mass or increasing β-cell apoptosis. Rather, islets from Isl-1L/L; Pdx1-CreERTm mice showed impaired insulin secretion. To identify direct targets of Isl-1, we integrated high-throughput gene expression and Isl-1 chromatin occupancy using islets from Isl-1L/L; Pdx1-CreERTm mice and βTC3 insulinoma cells, respectively. Ablating Isl-1 significantly affected the β-cell transcriptome, including known targets Insulin and MafA as well as novel targets Pdx1 and Slc2a2. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and luciferase reporter assays, we found that Isl-1 directly occupies functional regulatory elements of Pdx1 and Slc2a2. Thus Isl-1 is essential for postnatal β-cell function, directly regulates Pdx1 and Slc2a2, and has a mature β-cell cistrome distinct from that of pancreatic endocrine progenitors.
Am Diabetes Assoc