Endocrine Abstracts

GPR56 is an adhesion G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), which we have shown to be the most abundant GPCR in mouse and human islets. The extracellular N-terminal domain of adhesion GPCRs contains a tethered agonist, buried within the GPCR autoproteolysis-inducing domain. Synthetic peptides mimicking tethered agonist sequences can activate a variety of adhesion GPCRs including GPR56. Here we investigated the effect of a GPR56 tethered agonist peptide, P7, on β-cell function...

Introduction: Adipose tissue-derived peptides, known as adipokines, act as key regulators of metabolic homeostasis, but little information is available on adipokine-mediated cross-talk with β-cells via islet GPCR interactions, nor whether this is altered in obesity. The expression profile of islet GPCR peptide ligand mRNAs in visceral adipose tissue from lean and diet-induced obese mice was therefore defined and the functional effects of Ccl4 on β-cells were characte...

Introduction: Insulin-sensitive tissues such as liver and skeletal muscle modify their gene expression under conditions of obesity-induced insulin resistance, and some of these gene products may be released to maintain glucose homeostasis. This study aimed to identify mRNAs encoding liver and skeletal muscle peptides that have the potential to regulate β-cell function by binding to islet GPCRs, and to quantify changes in expression of these liver and muscle mRNAs in obese...

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune, heterogenous disease caused by immune-mediated destruction of insulin-producing β-cells in the pancreas. The only approved treatment strategies are exogenous insulin replacement therapy and islet transplantation. Leading experimental approaches have focussed on suppression and/or modulation of the immune system. However, efforts to increase β-cell survival are also of great interest. Recent studies in our lab have identified ne...

Adhesion GPCRs (aGPCRs) have been implicated in developmental processes and deletion of some aGPCRs in neonatal mice results in decreased β-cell differentiation capacity, leading to glucose intolerance in adult life. Here, we investigated the expression of aGPCR mRNAs in mouse islets and determined the expression and function of GPR56, the most abundant aGPCR in islets, in developing mouse pancreas. Quantitative PCR indicated that mouse islets expressed mRNAs encoding 26 ...