A pentadecapeptide fragment of islet neogenesis-associated protein increases beta-cell mass and reverses diabetes in C57BL/6J mice

Objective: The objective of this study was to demonstrate that islet neogenesis-associated protein (INGAP) peptide, a pentadecapeptide containing the biologically active portion of native INGAP, increases functional β-cell mass in normal animals and can be used therapeutically to reverse hyperglycemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Summary Background Data: INGAP, a 175 amino acid pancreatic acinar cell protein, has been suggested to be implicated in β-cell mass expansion. Methods: In the first part of this study, normoglycemic hamsters were administered either 500 μg INGAP peptide (n = 30) or saline (n = 20) intraperitoneally daily and sacrificed after 10 or 30 days of treatment. Blood glucose and insulin levels were measured, and a histologic and morphometric analysis of the pancreas was performed to determine the effect of INGAP peptide on the endocrine pancreas. In the second part of the study, 6- to 8-week-old C57BL/6J mice (n = 8) were administered multiple low doses of the β-cell toxin streptozotocin (STZ) inducing insulitis and hyperglycemia. The mice were then injected with INGAP peptide (n = 4) or saline (n = 4) for 39 days and sacrificed at 48 days. Two additional groups of diabetic mice were administered either a peptide composed of a scrambled sequence of amino acids from INGAP peptide (n = 5) or exendin-4 (n = 5), an incretin that has been associated with amelioration of hyperglycemia. Results: Islet cell neogenesis was stimulated in INGAP-treated hamsters by 10 days. At 30 days, the foci of new endocrine cells had the appearance of mature islets. There was a 75% increase in islet number, with normal circulating levels of blood glucose and insulin. Administration of INGAP peptide to diabetic mice reversed the diabetic state in all animals, and this was associated with increased expression of PDX-1 in duct cells and islet cell neogenesis with a reduction of insulitis in the new islets. Diabetic mice treated with exendin-4 or a scrambled INGAP peptide did not revert from hyperglycemia. Conclusion: Because there is a deficiency of β-cell mass in both type-1 and type-2 diabetes, INGAP peptide stimulation of fully functional neoislet differentiation may provide a novel approach for diabetes therapy.