Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the result of an increased demand for insulin along with an inability of pancreatic ?- cells to meet this demand by secreting sufficient amounts of insulin. The majority of gene loci identified by human genetic studies of T2D affect ?-cell development, mass, and/or function. Yet, there is a great deal that is unknown about how ?-cells secrete insulin in response to nutrient stimuli. We carried out a genetic screen of insulin secretion in 233,447 pancreatic islets ex vivo that were isolated from 483 Diversity Outbred (DO) mice. The DO mice were derived from 8 inbred mouse strains representing ~80% of the genetic diversity of all mouse strains. They have as much genetic diversity as the entire human population; ~40 million single nucleotide polymorphisms. The DO mice have been maintained for >30 generations, accumulating enough meiotic recombinations to enable high-resolution mapping of pathophysiological phenotypes. Our genetic screen identified 30 gene loci that affect insulin secretion or content of insulin or glucagon. Using our pipeline for gene identification, we chose two genes for further study, Hunk and Zfp148. We derived a whole-body knockout of Hunk and a ?-cell-specific knockout of Zfp148. Islets from both of these knockout mice secreted more insulin in response to nutrient stimulation than control mice. Hunk is a protein kinase, thus we will identify the substrates of Hunk to discover how it regulates insulin secretion. Zfp148 is a transcription factor. Thus, we will identify the direct transcriptional targets of Zfp148. We will apply our bioinformatic pipeline to identify additional genes from the 30 gene loci identified in our screen and provide them to the research community. Functional studies will be performed in genetically edited mice, genetically edited human ES-derived ?-cells, and human islets. These studies will discover novel genes and pathways involved in ?-cell function and T2D susceptibility.

Public Health Relevance

The genetic contribution to type 2 diabetes results mainly from changes in genes that affect ?-cell function, leading to a reduced insulin production. Obesity is a powerful driver of diabetes, because it causes insulin resistance and thus increases the demand for insulin. This project will investigate the role played by novel genes in the regulation of insulin secretion, and shed light on mechanisms that link genetic differences to diabetes risk.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DK101573-07
Application #
9902411
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Zaghloul, Norann
Project Start
2014-04-01
Project End
2023-03-31
Budget Start
2020-04-01
Budget End
2021-03-31
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department
Biochemistry
Type
Earth Sciences/Resources
DUNS #
161202122
City
Madison
State
WI
Country
United States
Zip Code
53715
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Ye, Risheng; Gordillo, Ruth; Shao, Mengle et al. (2018) Intracellular lipid metabolism impairs ? cell compensation during diet-induced obesity. J Clin Invest 128:1178-1189
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Morgan, Andrew P; Fu, Chen-Ping; Kao, Chia-Yu et al. (2015) The Mouse Universal Genotyping Array: From Substrains to Subspecies. G3 (Bethesda) 6:263-79

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