Toll-like receptor agonist induced changes in clonal rat BRIN-BD11 beta-cell insulin secretion and signal transduction.

Evidence for involvement of toll-like receptors (TLRs) (e.g. TLR4 and TLR2, whose agonists include lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and saturated fatty acids) in altered patterns of signalling in adipose, liver and muscle from animal models of insulin resistance and obesity has been published. We have now extended this area of research and have determined the effects of LPS on cell viability, insulin secretion, insulin signalling and metabolism in a clonal beta-cell line. BRIN-BD11 beta-cells were treated for 24 h with increasing concentrations of LPS. Chronic (24 h) and acute (20 min) insulin secretion, insulin content and parameters of cell metabolism and insulin signalling were determined. Incubation of BRIN-BD11 cells for 24 h in the presence of increasing concentrations of the TLR4 ligand LPS significantly decreased chronic (24 h) insulin secretion from 1.09+/-0.19 to 0.76+/-0.18 microg insulin/mg protein in the presence of 100 ng/ml LPS (P