GPR54 peptide agonists stimulate insulin secretion from murine, porcine and human islets

This study was designed to determine the effects of 10 and 13 amino acid forms of kisspeptin on dynamic insulin secretion from mammalian islets since it is not clear from published data whether the shorter peptide is stimulatory while the longer peptide inhibits insulin release. Insulin secretion was measured by radioimmunoassay following perifusion of human, pig, rat and mouse isolated islets with kisspeptin-10 or kisspeptin-13 in the presence of 20 mM glucose. Both peptides stimulated rapid, reversible potentiation of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from islets of all species tested. These data indicate that both kisspeptin-10 and kisspeptin-13, which is an extension of kisspeptin-10 by three amino acids, act directly at islet beta-cells of various species to potentiate insulin secretion, and suggest that inhibitory effects reported in earlier studies may reflect differences in experimental protocols.