Dual Role of VAMP8 in Regulating Insulin Exocytosis and Islet β Cell Growth

Optimal insulin secretion required to maintain glucose homeostasis is the summation of total pancreatic islet β cell mass and intrinsic secretory capacity of individual β cells, which are regulated by distinct mechanisms that could be amplified by glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1). Because of these actions of GLP-1 on islet β cells, GLP-1 has been deployed to treat diabetes. We employed SNARE protein VAMP8-null mice to demonstrate that VAMP8 mediates insulin granule recruitment to the plasma membrane, which partly accounts for GLP-1 potentiation of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. VAMP8-null mice also exhibited increased islet β cell mass from increased β cell mitosis, with β cell proliferative activity greatly amplified by GLP-1. Thus, despite the β cell exocytotic defect, VAMP8-null mice have an increased total insulin secretory capacity, which improved glucose homeostasis. We conclude that these VAMP8-mediated events partly underlie the therapeutic actions of GLP-1 on insulin secretion and β cell growth. ► VAMP8 mediates newcomer insulin granule recruitment and exocytosis in β cells ► VAMP8 negatively regulates pancreatic islet β cell proliferation ► GLP-1’s actions on insulin secretion and β cell mitosis are partly through VAMP8