title: Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in pancreatic beta cells during the compensatory islet hyperplasia in prediabetic mice.
abstract: The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, also known as the canonical Wnt pathway, plays a role in cell proliferation and differentiation in several tissues/organs. It has been recently described in humans a relationship between type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and mutation in the gene encoding the transcription factor TCF7L2 associated to the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. In the present study, we demonstrated that hyperplastic pancreatic islets from prediabetic mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 60 d displayed nuclear translocation of active β-catenin associated with significant increases in protein content and gene expression of β-catenin as well as of cyclins D1, D2 and c-Myc (target genes of the Wnt pathway) but not of Tcf7l2 (the transcription factor). Meanwhile, these alterations were not observed in pancreatic islets from 30 d HFD-fed mice, that do not display significant beta cell hyperplasia. These data suggest that the Wnt/β-catenin pathway is activated in pancreatic islets during prediabetes and may play a role in the induction of the compensatory beta cell hyperplasia observed at early phase of T2DM.
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors: D A
authors: DA
authors: Maschio
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors: R B
authors: RB
authors: Oliveira
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors: M R
authors: MR
authors: Santos
authors: Department of Biosciences, Federal University of São Paulo, Santos, SP, Brazil.
authors: C P F
authors: CP
authors: Carvalho
authors: Department of Structural and Functional Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors: H C L
authors: HC
authors: Barbosa-Sampaio
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: collares@unicamp.br.
authors: C B
authors: CB
authors: Collares-Buzato
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D048429:Cell Size; D059305:Diet, High-Fat; D006965:Hyperplasia; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011236:Prediabetic State / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway
keywords: Compensatory beta cell hyperplasia; Prediabetes; Wnt/β-catenin pathway