Glucose-stimulated somatostatin gene expression in the Brockmann bodies of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) results from increased mRNA transcription and not from altered mRNA stability.

Previously, we showed that glucose increases the steady-state levels of the mRNAs encoding two distinct preprosomatostatins (each containing [Tyr7, Gly10]-somatostatin-14 at their C-termini; denoted PPSS II' and PPSS II") in the endocrine pancreas (Brockmann body) of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). In the present study, isolated islet cells were used to determine whether glucose-stimulated expression resulted from altered rates of transcription and/or from changes in RNA stability. Nuclear run-on assays indicated that the number of PPSS II nascent transcripts were significantly higher in nuclei isolated from islet cells cultured in 10 mM glucose compared to those isolated from cells incubated in 4 mM glucose. High glucose (10 mM) did not, however, affect the stability of PPSS II mRNAs. These results indicate that glucose-stimulated somatostatin expression in the Brockmann bodies of rainbow trout results from increased endogenous mRNA transcription and not from altered mRNA stability.