IGF-I stimulates CCN5/WISP2 gene expression in pancreatic β-cells, which promotes cell proliferation and survival against streptozotocin.

IGF-I is normally produced from hepatocytes and other sources, stimulates protein synthesis, cell survival, and proliferation through receptor-mediated activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and MAPK, and targets specific molecules within the pancreatic islet cells. The current study was designed to identify novel targets that may mediate its pro-islet actions. Whole-genome cDNA microarray analysis in IGF-I–overexpressing islets identified 82 genes specifically up- or down-regulated. Prominent among them was CCN5/WISP2 whose expression was increased 3- and 2-fold at the mRNA and protein levels. Dual-labeled immunofluorescence revealed that CCN5 expression was low in the β-cells of wild-type islets but was significantly induced in response to IGF-I overexpression. In vitro treatment of mouse islets with IGF-I increased both CCN5 mRNA and protein levels significantly. To define the role of CCN5 in islet cell biology, we stably overexpressed its cDNA in insulinoma MIN6 cells and detected a 2-fold increa...