Open AccessInsulin biosynthesis in neuronal progenitors derived from adult hippocampus and the olfactory bulb
Author(s) -
Kuwabara Tomoko,
Kagalwala Mohamedi N.,
Onuma Yasuko,
Ito Yuzuru,
Warashina Masaki,
Terashima Kazuyuki,
Sanosaka Tsukasa,
Nakashima Kinichi,
Gage Fred H.,
Asashima Makoto
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
embo molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.923
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1757-4684
pISSN - 1757-4676
DOI - 10.1002/emmm.201100177
Subject(s) - olfactory bulb , progenitor cell , neurogenesis , biology , hippocampal formation , hippocampus , neural stem cell , ectopic expression , pancreas , insulin , neuroscience , microbiology and biotechnology , paracrine signalling , endocrinology , medicine , stem cell , central nervous system , cell culture , genetics , receptor
In the present study, we demonstrated that insulin is produced not only in the mammalian pancreas but also in adult neuronal cells derived from the hippocampus and olfactory bulb (OB). Paracrine Wnt3 plays an essential role in promoting the active expression of insulin in both hippocampal and OB-derived neural stem cells. Our analysis indicated that the balance between Wnt3, which triggers the expression of insulin via NeuroD1, and IGFBP-4, which inhibits the original Wnt3 action, is regulated depending on diabetic (DB) status. We also show that adult neural progenitors derived from DB animals retain the ability to give rise to insulin-producing cells and that grafting neuronal progenitors into the pancreas of DB animals reduces glucose levels. This study provides an example of a simple and direct use of adult stem cells from one organ to another, without introducing additional inductive genes.