TGR5 Activation Promotes Stimulus-Secretion Coupling of Pancreatic β-Cells via a PKA-Dependent Pathway

The Takeda-G-protein-receptor-5 (TGR5) mediates physiological actions of bile acids. Since it was shown that TGR5 is expressed in pancreatic tissue, a direct TGR5 activation in β-cells is currently postulated and discussed. The current study reveals that oleanolic acid (OLA) affects murine β-cell function by TGR5 activation. Both a G_αs inhibitor and an inhibitor of adenylyl cyclase (AC) prevented stimulating effects of OLA. Accordingly, OLA augmented the intracellular cAMP concentration. OLA and two well-established TGR5 agonists, RG239 and tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), acutely promoted stimulus-secretion coupling (SSC). OLA reduced K_ATP current and elevated current through Ca²⁺ channels. Accordingly, in mouse and human β-cells, TGR5 ligands increased the cytosolic Ca²⁺ concentration by stimulating Ca²⁺ influx. Higher OLA concentrations evoked a dual reaction, probably due to activation of a counterregulating pathway. Protein kinase A (PKA) was identified as a downstream target of TGR5 activation. In contrast, inhibition of phospholipase C and phosphoinositide 3-kinase did not prevent stimulating effects of OLA. Involvement of exchange protein directly activated by cAMP 2 (Epac2) or farnesoid X receptor (FXR2) was ruled out by experiments with knockout mice. The proposed pathway was not influenced by local glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) secretion from α-cells, shown by experiments with MIN6 cells, and a GLP-1 receptor antagonist. In summary, these data clearly demonstrate that activation of TGR5 in β-cells stimulates insulin secretion via an AC/cAMP/PKA-dependent pathway, which is supposed to interfere with SSC by affecting K_ATP and Ca²⁺ currents and thus membrane potential.