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Pregnancy-Specific Mechanisms Regulating Beta-Cell Proliferation and Mass

Award Number: R01DK120761
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/07/2020
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 03/31/2025

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Pregnancy-Specific Mechanisms Regulating Beta-Cell Proliferation and Mass - Gestational diabetes (GDM), or hyperglycemia that first manifests during pregnancy, worsens pregnancy outcomes and long-term health risks for both a mother and her offspring. As with all types of diabetes, a relative insufficiency of functional pancreatic β-cells is a fundamental defect contributing to GDM. Normally, β-cells adapt to the metabolic challenges of pregnancy by expanding β-cell mass. This expanded mass regresses in the postpartum period. Thus, pregnancy is a unique physiologic condition that occurs in a fully-developed adult and requires rapid, dynamic changes in β-cell mass. Unfortunately, the mechanisms of normal gestational β-cell adaptation and the defects underlying GDM are poorly understood. Our long-term goal is to understand the mechanisms regulating β-cell proliferation and mass during pregnancy, in order to leverage that knowledge for therapeutic expansion of β-cells in all types of diabetes. Building on our work establishing that loss of prolactin receptor (PRLR) signaling in β-cells results in GDM, we recently identified novel PRLR differentially expressed genes (PRLR-DEGs) and key transcriptional regulators of PRLR-DEG expression. The objective of this grant is to precisely define how PRLR regulates β-cell gene expression during pregnancy and the postpartum period. We propose the central hypothesis that PRLR signaling orchestrates an anticipatory transcriptional program of β-cell mass expansion during gestation and survival of adequate β-cell mass during postpartum regression. We will test this hypothesis with the following Specific Aims: (1) elucidate transcriptional mechanisms regulating PRLR-DEGs within β-cells during pregnancy. To do so, we will use ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq to examine how PRLR-DEGs are regulated in mouse and human islets during pregnancy or in response to prolactin stimulation. In Aim (2) we will define PRLR signaling-dependent and -independent β-cell subpopulations during pregnancy using single-cell RNA sequencing, lineage tracing and colocalization studies. For Aim (3) we will identify mechanisms of β-cell survival during β-cell mass regression in the early postpartum period through pulse-chase labeling and lineage tracing of β-cells that proliferated during pregnancy, as well as examine how inducible loss of PRLR specifically within the postpartum period affects β-cell mass. Together, results from these studies will reveal transcriptional mechanisms downstream of PRLR and illuminate unique aspects of gestational proliferation (Aim 1), define β-cell subpopulations spatially and temporally across pregnancy (Aim 2), and establish a new role for PRLR signaling in regulation of β-cells postpartum (Aim 3). Our research is significant because these findings would clarify mechanisms of gestational β-cell adaptation and expand our understanding of how PRLR activation regulates transcription. At a fundamental level, these studies will expand our understanding of the mechanisms regulating dynamic changes in β-cell mass, which may identify novel strategies to promote β-cell expansion for therapeutic purposes.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $393,000 )
2024	2024	THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	3400 N CHARLES ST	BALTIMORE	MD	21218	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	6	3/21/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$368,438
2024	2024	THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	3400 N CHARLES ST	BALTIMORE	MD	21218	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	001	6	5/3/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$24,562
														Subtotal = $393,000

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $409,375 )
2023	2023	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, THE	3400 N CHARLES ST	BALTIMORE	MD	21218	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	5	3/3/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$409,375
														Subtotal = $409,375

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $429,321 )
2022	2022	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, THE	3400 N CHARLES ST	BALTIMORE	MD	21218	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	005	4	3/25/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$409,375
2022	2021	UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM	701 S 20TH ST	BIRMINGHAM	AL	35294	JEFFERSON	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	2	12/6/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$288,506
2022	2021	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, THE	3400 N CHARLES ST	BALTIMORE	MD	21218	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	004	3	3/14/2022	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$113,695
2022	2021	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, THE	3400 N CHARLES ST	BALTIMORE	MD	21218	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	001	3	12/7/2021	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$308,452
2022	2021	UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM	701 S 20TH ST	BIRMINGHAM	AL	35294	JEFFERSON	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	003	2	3/14/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$82,744
2022	2020	UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM	701 S 20TH ST	BIRMINGHAM	AL	35294	JEFFERSON	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	002	1	3/14/2022	NEW	-$30,951
														Subtotal = $429,321

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $371,250 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM	701 S 20TH ST	BIRMINGHAM	AL	35294	JEFFERSON	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	2	3/5/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$371,250
														Subtotal = $371,250

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $371,250 )
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM	701 S 20TH ST	BIRMINGHAM	AL	35294	JEFFERSON	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	1	4/6/2020	NEW	$371,250
														Subtotal = $371,250

Grand Total All Awards = $1,974,196

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Pregnancy-Specific Mechanisms Regulating Beta-Cell Proliferation and Mass

Award Number: R01DK120761

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/07/2020

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 03/31/2025

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