title: Engineering of a glucose-responsive surrogate cell for insulin replacement therapy of experimental insulin-dependent diabetes.
abstract: Glucose responsiveness in the millimolar concentration range is a crucial requirement of a surrogate pancreatic beta cell for insulin replacement therapy of insulin-dependent diabetes. Novel insulin-secreting GK cell clones with millimolar glucose responsiveness were generated from an early-passage glucose-unresponsive RINm5F cell line. This line expressed constitutively both the K(ATP) channel and the GLUT2 glucose transporter; but it had a relative lack of glucokinase. Through overexpression of glucokinase, however, it was possible to generate glucose-responsive clones with a glucokinase-to-hexokinase ratio comparable to that of a normal pancreatic beta cell. This aim, on the other hand, was not achieved through overexpression of the GLUT2 glucose transporter. Raising the expression level of this glucose transporter into the range of rat liver, without correcting the glucokinase-to-hexokinase enzyme ratio, did not render the cells glucose responsive. These glucokinase-overexpressing RINm5F cells also stably maintained their molecular and insulin secretory characteristics in vivo. After implantation into streptozotocin diabetic immunodeficient rats, glucokinase-overexpressing cells retained their insulin responsiveness to physiological glucose stimulation under in vivo conditions. These cells represent a notable step toward the future bioengineering of a surrogate beta cell for insulin replacement therapy in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Biochemistry, Hannover Medical School, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tiedge
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elsner
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: McClenaghan
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hedrich
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grube
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klempnauer
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lenzen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002460:Cell Line / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D005941:Glucokinase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D051273:Glucose Transporter Type 2; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011923:Rats, Nude; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D051273:Glucose Transporter Type 2; D007328:Insulin; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D005941:Glucokinase; D005947:Glucose