HB-EGF Signaling Is Required for Glucose-Induced Pancreatic ß-Cell Proliferation in Rats.

The molecular mechanisms of ß-cell compensation to metabolic stress are poorly understood. We previously observed that nutrient-induced ß-cell proliferation in rats is dependent on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. The aim of this study was to determine the role of the EGFR ligand heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) in the ß-cell proliferative response to glucose, a ß-cell mitogen and key regulator of ß-cell mass in response to increased insulin demand. We show that exposure of isolated rat and human islets to HB-EGF stimulates ß-cell proliferation. In rat islets, inhibition of EGFR or HB-EGF blocks the proliferative response not only to HB-EGF but also to glucose. Furthermore, knockdown of HB-EGF in rat islets blocks ß-cell proliferation in response to glucose ex vivo and in vivo in transplanted glucose-infused rats. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that HB-EGF mRNA levels are increased in ß-cells in response to glucose in a carbohydrate-response element-binding protein (ChREBP)-dependent manner. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation studies identified ChREBP binding sites in proximity to the HB-EGF gene. Finally, inhibition of Src family kinases, known to be involved in HB-EGF processing, abrogated glucose-induced ß-cell proliferation. Our findings identify a novel glucose/HB-EGF/EGFR axis implicated in ß-cell compensation to increased metabolic demand.

Intestinal Epithelial Sirtuin 1 Regulates Intestinal Inflammation During Aging in Mice by Altering the Intestinal Microbiota.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Intestinal epithelial homeostasis is maintained by complex interactions among epithelial cells, commensal gut microorganisms, and immune cells. Disruption of this homeostasis is associated with disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but the mechanisms of this process are not clear. We investigated how Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a conserved mammalian NAD+-dependent protein deacetylase, senses environmental stress to alter intestinal integrity. METHODS: We performed studies of mice with disruption of Sirt1 specifically in the intestinal epithelium (SIRT1 iKO, villin-Cre+, Sirt1flox/flox mice) and control mice (villin-Cre-, Sirt1flox/flox) on a C57BL/6 background. Acute colitis was induced in some mice by addition of 2.5% dextran sodium sulfate to drinking water for 5-9 consecutive days. Some mice were given antibiotics via their drinking water for 4 weeks to deplete their microbiota. Some mice were fed with a cholestyramine-containing diet for 7 days to sequester their bile acids. Feces were collected and proportions of microbiota were analyzed by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and quantitative PCR. Intestines were collected from mice and gene expression profiles were compared by microarray and quantitative PCR analyses. We compared levels of specific mRNAs between colon tissues from age-matched patients with ulcerative colitis (n=10) vs without IBD (n=8, controls). RESULTS: Mice with intestinal deletion of SIRT1 (SIRT1 iKO) had abnormal activation of Paneth cells starting at the age of 5-8 months, with increased activation of NF-κB, stress pathways, and spontaneous inflammation at 22-24 months of age, compared with control mice. SIRT1 iKO mice also had altered fecal microbiota starting at 4-6 months of age compared with control mice, in part because of altered bile acid metabolism. Moreover, SIRT1 iKO mice with defective gut microbiota developed more severe colitis than control mice. Intestinal tissues from patients with ulcerative colitis expressed significantly lower levels of SIRT1 mRNA than controls. Intestinal tissues from SIRT1 iKO mice given antibiotics, however, did not have signs of inflammation at 22-24 months of age, and did not develop more severe colitis than control mice at 4-6 months. CONCLUSIONS: In analyses of intestinal tissues, colitis induction, and gut microbiota in mice with intestinal epithelial disruption of SIRT1, we found this protein to prevent intestinal inflammation by regulating the gut microbiota. SIRT1 might therefore be an important mediator of host-microbiome interactions. Agents designed to activate SIRT1 might be developed as treatments for IBDs.

Intestine-specific deletion of SIRT1 in mice impairs DCoH2-HNF-1α-FXR signaling and alters systemic bile acid homeostasis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), the most conserved mammalian oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent protein deacetylase, is an important metabolic sensor in many tissues. However, little is known about its role in the small intestine, which absorbs and senses nutrients. We investigated the functions of intestinal SIRT1 in systemic bile acid and cholesterol metabolism in mice. METHODS: SIRT1 was specifically deleted from the intestines of mice using the flox-Villin-Cre system (SIRT1 iKO mice). Intestinal and hepatic tissues were collected, and bile acid absorption was analyzed using the everted gut sac experiment. Systemic bile acid metabolism was studied in SIRT1 iKO and flox control mice placed on standard diets, diets containing 0.5% cholic acid or 1.25% cholesterol, or lithogenic diets. RESULTS: SIRT1 iKO mice had reduced intestinal farnesoid X receptor (FXR) signaling via hepatocyte nuclear factor 1α (HNF-1α) compared with controls, which reduced expression of the bile acid transporter genes Asbt and Mcf2l (encodes Ost) and absorption of ileal bile acids. SIRT1 regulated HNF-1α/FXR signaling partially through dimerization cofactor of HNF-1a (Dcoh2) Dcoh2, which increases dimerization of HNF-1α. SIRT1 was found to deacetylate Dcoh2, promoting its interaction with HNF-1α and inducing DNA binding by HNF-1α. Intestine-specific deletion of SIRT1 increased hepatic bile acid biosynthesis, reduced hepatic accumulation of bile acids, and protected animals from liver damage from a diet high in levels of bile acids. CONCLUSIONS: Intestinal SIRT1, a key nutrient sensor, is required for ileal bile acid absorption and systemic bile acid homeostasis in mice. We delineated the mechanism of metabolic regulation of HNF-1α/FXR signaling. Reagents designed to inhibit intestinal SIRT1 might be developed to treat bile acid-related diseases such as cholestasis.

Identification of a novel pathway of transforming growth factor-ß1 regulation by extracellular NAD+ in mouse macrophages: in vitro and in silico studies.

Extracellular ß-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) is anti-inflammatory. We hypothesized that NAD(+) would modulate the anti-inflammatory cytokine Transforming Growth Factor (TGF)-ß1. Indeed, NAD(+) led to increases in both active and latent cell-associated TGF-ß1 in RAW 264.7 mouse macrophages as well as in primary peritoneal macrophages isolated from both C3H/HeJ (TLR4-mutant) and C3H/HeOuJ (wild-type controls for C3H/HeJ) mice. NAD(+) acts partially via cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR) and subsequent release of Ca(2+). Treatment of macrophages with the cADPR analog 3-deaza-cADPR or Ca(2+) ionophores recapitulated the effects of NAD(+) on TGF-ß1, whereas the cADPR antagonist 8-Br-cADPR, Ca(2+) chelation, and antagonism of L-type Ca(2+) channels suppressed these effects. The time and dose effects of NAD(+) on TGF-ß1 were complex and could be modeled both statistically and mathematically. Model-predicted levels of TGF-ß1 protein and mRNA were largely confirmed experimentally but also suggested the presence of other mechanisms of regulation of TGF-ß1 by NAD(+). Thus, in vitro and in silico evidence points to NAD(+) as a novel modulator of TGF-ß1.

ChREBP mediates glucose-stimulated pancreatic ß-cell proliferation.

Glucose stimulates rodent and human ß-cell replication, but the intracellular signaling mechanisms are poorly understood. Carbohydrate response element-binding protein (ChREBP) is a lipogenic glucose-sensing transcription factor with unknown functions in pancreatic ß-cells. We tested the hypothesis that ChREBP is required for glucose-stimulated ß-cell proliferation. The relative expression of ChREBP was determined in liver and ß-cells using quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry. Loss- and gain-of-function studies were performed using small interfering RNA and genetic deletion of ChREBP and adenoviral overexpression of ChREBP in rodent and human ß-cells. Proliferation was measured by 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation, [(3)H]thymidine incorporation, and fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. In addition, the expression of cell cycle regulatory genes was measured by qRT-PCR and immunoblotting. ChREBP expression was comparable with liver in mouse pancreata and in rat and human islets. Depletion of ChREBP decreased glucose-stimulated proliferation in ß-cells isolated from ChREBP(-/-) mice, in INS-1-derived 832/13 cells, and in primary rat and human ß-cells. Furthermore, depletion of ChREBP decreased the glucose-stimulated expression of cell cycle accelerators. Overexpression of ChREBP amplified glucose-stimulated proliferation in rat and human ß-cells, with concomitant increases in cyclin gene expression. In conclusion, ChREBP mediates glucose-stimulated proliferation in pancreatic ß-cells.

Hypoxia-induced overexpression of BNIP3 is not dependent on hypoxia-inducible factor 1α in mouse hepatocytes.

We sought to investigate the expression of the cell death protein BNIP3 in hypoxic hepatocytes, as well as the role that hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1α) plays in the upregulation of BNIP3 in hypoxic primary mouse hepatocytes and in the livers of mice subjected to ischemia-reperfusion. Freshly isolated mouse hepatocytes were exposed to 1% hypoxia for 1, 3, 6, 24, and 48 h, and the RNA and protein were isolated for reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Similarly, livers from mice subjected to segmental (70%) hepatic warm ischemia for 30 min or 1 h, or to 1-h ischemia followed by 0.5- to 4-h reperfusion, were collected and subjected to Western blot analysis for HIF-1α protein. We showed that hypoxic stress increases the formation of the BNIP3 homodimer while decreasing the amount of the monomeric form of BNIP3 in primary mouse hepatocytes. In contrast to RAW264.7 macrophages, there is a basal expression of HIF-α protein in normoxic primary mouse hepatocytes that does not change significantly upon exposure to hypoxia. Using siRNA technology, we demonstrated that reduced HIF-1α protein levels did not block the hypoxia-induced overexpression of BNIP3. In contrast to the effect on BNIP3 expression reported previously, livers from ischemic animals demonstrated only a modest increase in HIF-1α protein as compared with resting livers from control animals; and this expression was not statistically different from sham controls. These results suggest that HIF-1α does not mediate the hypoxia-induced upregulation of BNIP3 in mouse hepatocytes in vitro and possibly in the liver in vivo.

Expression and subcellular localization of BNIP3 in hypoxic hepatocytes and liver stress.

We have previously demonstrated that the Bcl-2/adenovirus EIB 19-kDa interacting protein 3 (BNIP3), a cell death-related member of the Bcl-2 family, is upregulated in vitro and in vivo in both experimental and clinical settings of redox stress and that nitric oxide (NO) downregulates its expression. In this study we sought to examine the expression and localization of BNIP3 in murine hepatocytes and in a murine model of hemorrhagic shock (HS) and ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). Freshly isolated mouse hepatocytes were exposed to 1% hypoxia for 6 h followed by reoxygenation for 18 h, and protein was isolated for Western blot analysis. Hepatocytes grown on coverslips were fixed for localization studies. Similarly, livers from surgically cannulated C57Bl/6 mice and from mice cannulated and subjected to 1-4 h of HS were processed for protein isolation and Western blot analysis. In hepatocytes, BNIP3 was expressed constitutively but was upregulated under hypoxic conditions, and this upregulation was countered by treatment with a NO donor. Surprisingly, BNIP3 was localized in the nucleus of normoxic hepatocytes, in the cytoplasm following hypoxia, and again in the nucleus following reoxygenation. Upregulation of BNIP3 partially required p38 MAPK activation. BNIP3 contributed to hypoxic injury in hepatocytes, since this injury was diminished by knockdown of BNIP3 mRNA. Hepatic BNIP3 was also upregulated in two different models of liver stress in vivo, suggesting that a multitude of inflammatory stresses can lead to the modulation of BNIP3. In turn, the upregulation of BNIP3 appears to be one mechanism of hepatocyte cell death and liver damage in these settings.