title: Identification of tissue-restricted transcripts in human islets.
abstract: The purpose of our study was to identify transcripts specific for tissue-restricted, membrane-associated proteins in human islets that, in turn, might serve as markers of healthy or diseased islet cell masses. Using oligonucleotide chips, we obtained gene expression profiles of human islets for comparison with the profiles of exocrine pancreas, liver, and kidney tissue. As periislet presence of type 1 interferon is associated with the development of type 1 diabetes, the expression profile of human islets treated ex vivo with interferon-alpha2beta (IFNalpha2beta) was also determined. A set of genes encoding transmembrane- or membrane-associated proteins with novel islet-restricted expression was resolved by determining the intersection of the islet set with the complement of datasets obtained from other tissues. Under the influence of IFNalpha2beta, the expression levels of transcripts for several of the identified gene products were up- or down-regulated. One of the islet-restricted gene products identified in this study, vesicular monoamine transporter type 2, was shown to bind [3H]dihydrotetrabenazine, a ligand with derivatives suitable for positron emission tomography imaging. We report here the first comparison of gene expression profiles of human islets with other tissues and the identification of a target molecule with possible use in determining islet cell masses.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics and Biophysics Adriano Buzzati-Traverso, National Research Center, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maffei
authors.forename: Zhuoru
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Witkowski
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moschella
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Del Pozzo
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kevan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herold
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Winchester
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D046508:Culture Techniques; D015536:Down-Regulation; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013747:Tetrabenazine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation; D050492:Vesicular Biogenic Amine Transport Proteins; D050493:Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins
chemical_list: D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D050492:Vesicular Biogenic Amine Transport Proteins; D050493:Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins; C032811:dihydrotetrabenazine; D013747:Tetrabenazine