A comparative analysis of human and mouse islet G-protein coupled receptor expression

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are essential for islet function, but most studies use rodent islets due to limited human islet availability. We have systematically compared the GPCR mRNA expression in human and mouse islets to determine to what extent mouse islets can be used as surrogates for human islets to study islet GPCR function, and we have identified species-specific expression of several GPCRs. The A₃ receptor (ADORA3) was expressed only in mouse islets and the A₃ agonist MRS 5698 inhibited glucose-induced insulin secretion from mouse islets, with no effect on human islets. Similarly, mRNAs encoding the galanin receptors GAL₁ (GALR1), GAL₂ (GALR2) and GAL₃ GALR3) were abundantly expressed in mouse islets but present only at low levels in human islets, so that it reads (GALR3) and galanin inhibited insulin secretion only from mouse islets. Conversely, the sst1 receptor (SSTR1) was abundant only in human islets and its selective activation by CH 275 inhibited insulin secretion from human islets, with no effect on mouse islets. Our comprehensive human and mouse islet GPCR atlas has demonstrated that species differences do exist in islet GPCR expression and function, which are likely to impact on the translatability of mouse studies to the human context.