Browsing by Author "Balamurugan, Appakalai N."

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    Abnormalities in proinsulin processing in islets from individuals with longstanding T1D
    (Elsevier, 2019-11) Sims, Emily K.; Syed, Farooq; Nyalwidhe, Julius; Bahnson, Henry T.; Haataja, Leena; Speake, Cate; Morris, Margaret A.; Balamurugan, Appakalai N.; Mirmira, Raghavendra G.; Nadler, Jerry; Mastracci, Teresa L.; Arvan, Peter; Greenbaum, Carla J.; Evans-Molina, Carmella; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    We recently described the persistence of detectable serum proinsulin in a large majority of individuals with longstanding type 1 diabetes (T1D), including individuals with undetectable serum C-peptide. Here, we sought to further explore the mechanistic etiologies of persistent proinsulin secretion in T1D at the level of the islet, using tissues obtained from human donors. Immunostaining for proinsulin and insulin was performed on human pancreatic sections from the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD) collection (n = 24). Differential proinsulin processing enzyme expression was analyzed using mass spectrometry analysis of human islets isolated from pancreatic sections with laser capture microdissection (n = 6). Proinsulin processing enzyme mRNA levels were assessed using quantitative real-time PCR in isolated human islets (n = 10) treated with or without inflammatory cytokines. Compared to nondiabetic controls, immunostaining among a subset (4/9) of insulin positive T1D donor islets revealed increased numbers of cells with proinsulin-enriched, insulin-poor staining. T1D donor islets also exhibited increased proinsulin fluorescence intensity relative to insulin fluorescence intensity. Laser capture microdissection followed by mass spectrometry revealed reductions in the proinsulin processing enzymes prohormone convertase 1/3 (PC1/3) and carboxypeptidase E (CPE) in T1D donors. Twenty-four hour treatment of human islets with inflammatory cytokines reduced mRNA expression of the processing enzymes PC1/3, PC2, and CPE. Taken together, these data provide new mechanistic insight into altered proinsulin processing in long-duration T1D and suggest that reduced β cell prohormone processing is associated with proinflammatory cytokine-induced reductions in proinsulin processing enzyme expression.
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    Circulating unmethylated CHTOP and INS DNA fragments provide evidence of possible islet cell death in youth with obesity and diabetes
    (BMC, 2020-07-31) Syed, Farooq; Tersey, Sarah A.; Turatsinze, Jean-Valery; Felton, Jamie L.; Kang, Nicole Jiyun; Nelson, Jennifer B.; Sims, Emily K.; Defrance, Mathieu; Bizet, Martin; Fuks, Francois; Cnop, Miriam; Bugliani, Marco; Marchetti, Piero; Ziegler, Anette-Gabriele; Bonifacio, Ezio; Webb-Robertson, Bobbie-Jo; Balamurugan, Appakalai N.; Evans-Molina, Carmella; Eizirik, Decio L.; Mather, Kieren J.; Arslanian, Silva; Mirmira, Raghavendra G.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Background Identification of islet β cell death prior to the onset of type 1 diabetes (T1D) or type 2 diabetes (T2D) might allow for interventions to protect β cells and reduce diabetes risk. Circulating unmethylated DNA fragments arising from the human INS gene have been proposed as biomarkers of β cell death, but this gene alone may not be sufficiently specific to report β cell death. Results To identify new candidate genes whose CpG sites may show greater specificity for β cells, we performed unbiased DNA methylation analysis using the Infinium HumanMethylation 450 array on 64 human islet preparations and 27 non-islet human tissues. For verification of array results, bisulfite DNA sequencing of human β cells and 11 non-β cell tissues was performed on 5 of the top 10 CpG sites that were found to be differentially methylated. We identified the CHTOP gene as a candidate whose CpGs show a greater frequency of unmethylation in human islets. A digital PCR strategy was used to determine the methylation pattern of CHTOP and INS CpG sites in primary human tissues. Although both INS and CHTOP contained unmethylated CpG sites in non-islet tissues, they occurred in a non-overlapping pattern. Based on Naïve Bayes classifier analysis, the two genes together report 100% specificity for islet damage. Digital PCR was then performed on cell-free DNA from serum from human subjects. Compared to healthy controls (N = 10), differentially methylated CHTOP and INS levels were higher in youth with new onset T1D (N = 43) and, unexpectedly, in healthy autoantibody-negative youth who have first-degree relatives with T1D (N = 23). When tested in lean (N = 32) and obese (N = 118) youth, increased levels of unmethylated INS and CHTOP were observed in obese individuals. Conclusion Our data suggest that concurrent measurement of circulating unmethylated INS and CHTOP has the potential to detect islet death in youth at risk for both T1D and T2D. Our data also support the use of multiple parameters to increase the confidence of detecting islet damage in individuals at risk for developing diabetes.
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    The demise of islet allotransplantation in the United States: A call for an urgent regulatory update
    (Wiley, 2021-04) Witkowski, Piotr; Philipson, Louis H.; Kaufman, Dixon B.; Ratner, Lloyd E.; Abouljoud, Marwan S.; Bellin, Melena D.; Buse, John B.; Kandeel, Fouad; Stock, Peter G.; Mulligan, David C.; Markmann, James F.; Kozlowski, Tomasz; Andreoni, Kenneth A.; Alejandro, Rodolfo; Baidal, David A.; Hardy, Mark A.; Wickrema, Amittha; Mirmira, Raghavendra G.; Fung, John; Becker, Yolanda T.; Josephson, Michelle A.; Bachul, Piotr J.; Pyda, Jordan S.; Charlton, Michael; Millis, J. Michael; Gaglia, Jason L.; Stratta, Robert J.; Fridell, Jonathan A.; Niederhaus, Silke V.; Forbes, Rachael C.; Jayant, Kumar; Robertson, R. Paul; Odorico, Jon S.; Levy, Marlon F.; Harland, Robert C.; Abrams, Peter L.; Olaitan, Oyedolamu K.; Kandaswamy, Raja; Wellen, Jason R.; Japour, Anthony J.; Desai, Chirag S.; Naziruddin, Bashoo; Balamurugan, Appakalai N.; Barth, Rolf N.; Ricordi, Camillo; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Islet allotransplantation in the United States (US) is facing an imminent demise. Despite nearly three decades of progress in the field, an archaic regulatory framework has stymied US clinical practice. Current regulations do not reflect the state-of-the-art in clinical or technical practices. In the US, islets are considered biologic drugs and “more than minimally manipulated” human cell and tissue products (HCT/Ps). In contrast, across the world, human islets are appropriately defined as “minimally manipulated tissue” and not regulated as a drug, which has led to islet allotransplantation (allo-ITx) becoming a standard-of-care procedure for selected patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. This regulatory distinction impedes patient access to islets for transplantation in the US. As a result only 11 patients underwent allo-ITx in the US between 2016 and 2019, and all as investigational procedures in the settings of a clinical trials. Herein, we describe the current regulations pertaining to islet transplantation in the United States. We explore the progress which has been made in the field and demonstrate why the regulatory framework must be updated to both better reflect our current clinical practice and to deal with upcoming challenges. We propose specific updates to current regulations which are required for the renaissance of ethical, safe, effective, and affordable allo-ITx in the United States.