VGF-derived peptide attenuates development of type 2 diabetes via enhancement of islet beta cell survival and function survival and function

Deterioration of functional islet β-cell mass is the final step in progression to Type 2 diabetes. We previously reported that overexpression of Nkx6.1 in rat islets has the dual effects of enhancing glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and increasing β-cell replication. Here we show that Nkx6.1 strongly upregulates the prohormone VGF in rat islets and that VGF is both necessary and sufficient for Nkx6.1-mediated enhancement of GSIS. Moreover, the VGF-derived peptide TLQP-21 potentiates GSIS in rat and human islets and improves glucose tolerance in vivo. Chronic injection of TLQP-21 in pre-diabetic ZDF rats preserves islet mass and slows diabetes onset. TLQP-21 prevents islet cell apoptosis by a pathway similar to that used by GLP-1, but independent of the GLP-1, GIP, or VIP receptors. Unlike GLP-1, TLQP-21 does not inhibit gastric emptying or increase heart rate. We conclude that a TLQP-21 is a novel agent for enhancing islet β-cell survival and function. We utilized a “sample x reference” experimental design strategy in which RNA extracted from rat pancreatic islets was hybridized to the microarray slide in the presence of labeled rat reference RNA (RRR, Stratagene, LaJolla, CA). Cultures were treated with adenoviruses expressing either the hamster form of Nkx6.1, the mouse form of Pdx1, or the beta-galactosidase enzyme. 3-5 biological replicates each representing independent islet isolations were used for microarray analysis. Briefly, five hundred nanograms of total RNA were used for gene expression profiling following reverse transcription and T-7 polymerase-mediated amplification/labeling with Cyanine-5. Labeled subject cRNA was co-hybridized to Operon rat 27K oligonucleotide arrays with equimolar amounts of Cyanine-3 labeled RRR. Slides were hybridized, washed, and scanned on a Gene Pix 5000 microarray scanner.