Expression of the 64 kDa/glutamic acid decarboxylase rat islet cell autoantigen is influenced by the rate of insulin secretion.

This study examined the relationship between insulin secretion and expression of the 64 kDa/glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantigen in pancreatic islets. Islets isolated from Wistar rats were cultured for 3 days under different conditions: in 5.5 mmol/l glucose with or without alpha-ketoisocaproic acid or glipizide and in 28 mmol/l glucose with or without diazoxide. The 64 kDa/glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantigen was precipitated from lysates of [35S]-methionine-labelled islets with sera from patients with Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus and identified by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorography. In parallel, insulin contents of the islets and the media were determined as well as the rates of glucose-stimulated (pro)insulin biosynthesis. alpha-Ketoisocaproic acid and glipizide were found to stimulate the expression of the 64 kDa/glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantigen and also the rate of insulin secretion. Diazoxide on the other hand reduced the rate of the 64 kDa/glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantigen synthesis in parallel with an inhibition of glucose-stimulated insulin release. Under most of the conditions employed, (pro)insulin biosynthesis was not affected. The correlation found between the rate of insulin release and expression of the 64 kDa/glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantigen might provide an explanation for the earlier observed relationship between the functional demands on the Beta cells and their rate of destruction which may result in diabetes.