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Notch-mediated Ephrin signaling disrupts islet architecture and β cell function

ABSTRACT: Altered islet architecture is associated with β cell dysfunction and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) progression, but molecular effectors of islet spatial organization remain mostly unknown. Although Notch signaling is known to regulate pancreatic development, we observed “re-activated” β cell Notch activity in obese mouse models. To test the repercussions and reversibility of Notch effects, we generated doxycycline-dependent, β cell-specific Notch gain-of-function mice. As predicted, we found that Notch activation in post-natal β cells impaired glucose stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and glucose intolerance, but we observed a surprising remnant glucose intolerance after doxycycline withdrawal and cessation of Notch activity, associated with a marked disruption of normal islet architecture. Transcriptomic screening of Notch-active islets revealed increased Ephrin signaling. Commensurately, exposure to Ephrin ligands increased β cell repulsion, and impaired murine and human pseudo-islet formation. Consistent with our mouse data, Notch and Ephrin signaling are increased in metabolically-inflexible β cells in patients with T2D. These studies suggest than islet architecture can be permanently altered by β cell Notch/Ephrin signaling during a morphogenetic window in early life.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE193888 | GEO | 2022/02/21

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Recent advances in the understanding of the genetics of type 2 diabetes (T2D) susceptibility have focused attention on the regulation of transcriptional activity within the pancreatic beta-cell. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) represent an important component of regulatory control, and have proven roles in the development of human disease and control of glucose homeostasis. We set out to establish the miRNA profile of human pancreatic islets and of enriched beta-cell populations, and to explore their potential involvement in T2D susceptibility. We used Illumina small RNA sequencing to profile the miRNA fraction in three preparations each of primary human islets and of enriched beta-cells generated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. In total, 366 miRNAs were found to be expressed (i.e. >100 cumulative reads) in islets and 346 in beta-cells; of the total of 384 unique miRNAs, 328 were shared. A comparison of the islet-cell miRNA profile with those of 15 other human tissues identified 40 miRNAs predominantly expressed (i.e. >50% of all reads seen across the tissues) in islets. Several highly-expressed islet miRNAs, such as miR-375, have established roles in the regulation of islet function, but others (e.g. miR-27b-3p, miR-192-5p) have not previously been described in the context of islet biology. As a first step towards exploring the role of islet-expressed miRNAs and their predicted mRNA targets in T2D pathogenesis, we looked at published T2D association signals across these sites. We found evidence that predicted mRNA targets of islet-expressed miRNAs were globally enriched for signals of T2D association (p-values <0.01, q-values <0.1). At six loci with genome-wide evidence for T2D association (AP3S2, KCNK16, NOTCH2, SCL30A8, VPS26A, and WFS1) predicted mRNA target sites for islet-expressed miRNAs overlapped potentially causal variants. In conclusion, we have described the miRNA profile of human islets and beta-cells and provide evidence linking islet miRNAs to T2D pathogenesis. Examination of the miRNA profiles in 3 preparations of isolated pancreatic islets and 3 preparations of FACS-enriched pancreatic beta-cells

Project description:Pancreatic islet (dys)function is central to glucose homeostasis and type 2 diabetes (patho)physiology. Human islets consist of multiple endocrine (alpha, beta, delta, gamma), endothelial, and resident/inflitrating immune cells whose coordinated functions modulate glucose mobilization or disposal. Single cell transcriptome profiling (scRNA-seq) studies have been applied to dissect human islet cellular heterogeneity, identify islet cell (sub)populations, and define their molecular repertoire. However, precise understanding of cell type-specific alterations in type 2 diabetic vs. non-diabetic individuals is lacking, due in part to the limited number of individuals or single cell transcriptomes per individual profiled for comparison. Here, we create a comprehensive single cell transcriptome atlas of 245,878 human islet cells from 48 individuals spanning non-diabetic (ND), pre-diabetic (PD), and type 2 diabetic (T2D) states and matched for sex, age, and ancestry and define marker gene sets that are robustly expressed across disease states for each of the 14 cell types identified. We observe significant decreases in the number of beta cells sampled from T2D vs. ND or PD donors. Two of eight putative beta cell subpopulations, with ‘high functioning’ and ‘senescent’ cell gene signatures, increase and decrease in T2D donor islets, respectively. Importantly, we identify 511 differentially expressed genes in beta cells from T2D vs. ND donors. This includes monogenic and type 2 diabetes effector genes, such as HNF1A, DGKB, ST6GAL1, and FXYD2, for which genetic and environmental effects on their expression is concordant. Human beta cell and islet knockdown of selected newly-identified down-regulated genes impairs beta cell viability or function. Together, this study provides new and robust, cell type-resolved insights on the cellular and molecular changes in healthy vs. diabetic human islets and represents a valuable resource to the islet biology and type 2 diabetes communities.

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Notch-mediated Ephrin signaling disrupts islet architecture and β cell function

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