Spatiotemporal profiling of adhesion G protein-coupled receptors in developing mouse and human pancreas reveals a role for GPR56 in islet development

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are cell-surface proteins that are targeted therapeutically for a range of disorders, including diabetes. Adhesion GPCRs (aGPCRs) are the second largest class of the GPCR superfamily and some members of this family have been implicated in appropriate organ development. However, the role of aGPCRs in endocrine pancreas specification is not yet known.

Here, we systematically characterised expression of mRNAs encoding aGPCRs and their ligands in developing mouse and human pancreas using our own and publicly available single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics data, and we conducted qPCR analysis of aGPCR expression in human pancreas at different gestational stages. We then investigated the role of GPR56 (ADGRG1), the most abundant aGPCR in pancreatic endocrine progenitors, in islet development using Gpr56 null mice and their wildtype littermates.

We demonstrated that aGPCRs are dynamically expressed during mouse and human pancreas development, with specific aGPCR mRNAs expressed in distinct endocrine, endothelial, mesenchymal, acinar, ductal, and immune cell clusters. aGPCR ligand mRNAs were mostly expressed by non-endocrine cells, and the most highly expressed receptor-ligand interacting mRNA pairs were those encoding GPR56 and COL3A1. Deletion of Gpr56 in neonatal mice was associated with an altered α-/β-/δ-cell ratio and reduced β-cell proliferation.

Our data show that aGPCRs are expressed at key stages of human and mouse pancreas endocrine lineage decisions, and analysis of pancreases from Gpr56 knockout mice implicate this aGPCR in the development of a full complement of β-cells.