de Pablo F, Girbau M, Gomez J A, Hernandez E, Roth J
Diabetes. 1985 Oct;34(10):1063-7. doi: 10.2337/diab.34.10.1063.
The physiologic function of insulin in early embryonic life is unknown. We have shown that insulin is present in unfertilized eggs and in chick embryos at 2-3 days of development, even before the emergence of the endocrine pancreas. To define insulin's role, we exposed 2-day-old chick embryos to anti-insulin antibodies and followed their development up to day 5. Antibody-treated embryos had a higher rate of growth retardation and death by days 3-5 of embryogenesis, compared with controls. Among the survivors, biochemical maturation was delayed at days 4 and 5; weight, protein, total creatine kinase activity, and creatine kinase-MB were decreased in antibody-treated embryos. By contrast, insulin (50 ng/embryo) administered to 2-day-old embryos yielded nearly symmetrical stimulatory results. These findings suggest that endogenous insulin plays a probable physiologic role regulating growth and differentiation in early embryos. In addition, the findings provide some clues to a possible function for insulin produced outside the organism's own beta cells.
胰岛素在胚胎早期生命中的生理功能尚不清楚。我们已经证明，即使在内分泌胰腺出现之前，未受精的鸡蛋和发育2 - 3天的鸡胚胎中也存在胰岛素。为了确定胰岛素的作用，我们将2日龄的鸡胚胎暴露于抗胰岛素抗体中，并追踪其发育至第5天。与对照组相比，抗体处理的胚胎在胚胎发育的第3 - 5天出现更高的生长迟缓率和死亡率。在存活的胚胎中，第4天和第5天的生化成熟延迟；抗体处理的胚胎体重、蛋白质、总肌酸激酶活性和肌酸激酶 - MB均降低。相比之下，给2日龄胚胎注射胰岛素（50 ng/胚胎）产生了几乎对称的刺激结果。这些发现表明，内源性胰岛素在调节早期胚胎的生长和分化中可能发挥生理作用。此外，这些发现为生物体自身β细胞外产生的胰岛素的可能功能提供了一些线索。
