Soluble T-cadherin promotes pancreatic β-cell proliferation by upregulating Notch signaling
Tomonori Okita, Shunbun Kita, Shiro Fukuda, Keita Fukuoka, Emi Kawada-Horitani, Masahito Iioka, Yuto Nakamura, Yuya Fujishima, Hitoshi Nishizawa, Dan Kawamori, Taka‐aki Matsuoka, Norikazu Maeda, Iichiro Shimomura
Abstract
(T-cadherin) knockout mice exhibited impaired glucose handling due to attenuated β-cell proliferation under high-fat diet conditions. The gene expression analyses indicated the impairment in cell cycle and Notch signaling in the islets of T-cadherin knockout mice under high-fat diet conditions. In streptozotocin-induced diabetes, the replacement of soluble T-cadherin improved β-cell mass and blood glucose levels in T-cadherin knockout mice. Recombinant soluble T-cadherin upregulated Notch signaling in cultured murine islets. We concluded that soluble T-cadherin could work as an endogenous humoral factor whose signaling pathways including Notch signaling regulate β-cell proliferation under diabetic conditions in mice.