Mitochondrial Dynamin-Related Protein 1 (DRP1) translocation in response to cerebral glucose is impaired in a rat model of early alteration in hypothalamic glucose sensing.

OBJECTIVE: Hypothalamic glucose sensing (HGS) initiates insulin secretion (IS) via a vagal control, participating in energy homeostasis. This requires mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) signaling, dependent on mitochondrial fission, as shown by invalidation of the hypothalamic DRP1 protein. Here, our objectives were to determine whether a model with a HGS defect induced by a short, high fat-high sucrose (HFHS) diet in rats affected the fission machinery and mROS signaling within the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH). METHODS: Rats fed a HFHS diet for 3 weeks were compared with animals fed a normal chow. Both in vitro (calcium imaging) and in vivo (vagal nerve activity recordings) experiments to measure the electrical activity of isolated MBH gluco-sensitive neurons in response to increased glucose level were performed. In parallel, insulin secretion to a direct glucose stimulus in isolated islets vs. insulin secretion resulting from brain glucose stimulation was evaluated. Intra-carotid glucose load-induced hypothalamic DRP1 translocation to mitochondria and mROS (H2O2) production were assessed in both groups. Finally, compound C was intracerebroventricularly injected to block the proposed AMPK-inhibited DRP1 translocation in the MBH to reverse the phenotype of HFHS fed animals. RESULTS: Rats fed a HFHS diet displayed a decreased HGS-induced IS. Responses of MBH neurons to glucose exhibited an alteration of their electrical activity, whereas glucose-induced insulin secretion in isolated islets was not affected. These MBH defects correlated with a decreased ROS signaling and glucose-induced translocation of the fission protein DRP1, as the vagal activity was altered. AMPK-induced inhibition of DRP1 translocation increased in this model, but its reversal through the injection of the compound C, an AMPK inhibitor, failed to restore HGS-induced IS. CONCLUSIONS: A hypothalamic alteration of DRP1-induced fission and mROS signaling in response to glucose was observed in HGS-induced IS of rats exposed to a 3 week HFHS diet. Early hypothalamic modifications of the neuronal activity could participate in a primary defect of the control of IS and ultimately, the development of diabetes.

Modulation of large dense core vesicle insulin content mediates rhythmic hormone release from pancreatic beta cells over the 24h cycle.

The rhythmic nature of insulin secretion over the 24h cycle in pancreatic islets has been mostly investigated using transcriptomics studies showing that modulation of insulin secretion over this cycle is achieved via distal stages of insulin secretion. We set out to measure ß-cell exocytosis using in depth cell physiology techniques at several time points. In agreement with the activity and feeding pattern of nocturnal rodents, we find that C57/Bl6J islets in culture for 24h exhibit higher insulin secretion during the corresponding dark phase than in the light phase (Zeitgeber Time ZT20 and ZT8, respectively, in vivo). Glucose-induced insulin secretion is increased by 21% despite normal intracellular Ca2+ transients and depolarization-evoked exocytosis, as measured by whole-cell capacitance measurements. This paradox is explained by a 1.37-fold increase in beta cell insulin content. Ultramorphological analyses show that vesicle size and density are unaltered, demonstrating that intravesicular insulin content per granule is modulated over the 24h cycle. Proinsulin levels did not change between ZT8 and ZT20. Islet glucagon content was inversely proportional to insulin content indicating that this unique feature is likely to support a physiological role. Microarray data identified the differential expression of 301 transcripts, of which 26 are miRNAs and 54 are known genes (including C2cd4b, a gene previously involved in insulin processing, and clock genes such as Bmal1 and Rev-erbα). Mouse ß-cell secretion over the full course of the 24h cycle may rely on several distinct cellular functions but late night increase in insulin secretion depends solely on granule insulin content.

Disrupted dynamics of F-actin and insulin granule fusion in INS-1 832/13 beta-cells exposed to glucotoxicity: partial restoration by glucagon-like peptide 1.

Actin dynamics in pancreatic ß-cells is involved in insulin exocytosis but the molecular mechanisms of this dynamics and its role in biphasic insulin secretion in pancreatic ß-cells is largely unknown. Moreover, the impact of a glucotoxic environment on the sub-cortical actin network dynamics is poorly studied. In this study, we investigate the behavior of insulin granules and the subcortical actin network dynamics in INS-1 832/13 ß-cells submitted to a normal or glucotoxic environment. Our results show that glucose stimulation leads to a reorganization of the subcortical actin network with a rupture of its interactions with t-SNARE proteins (Syntaxin 1A and SNAP-25), promoting insulin secretion in INS-1 832/13 ß-cells. Prolonged exposure of INS-1 832/13 ß-cells to high-glucose levels (glucotoxicity) leads to the densification of the cortical actin network, which prevents its reorganization under acute glucose, and diminishes the glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, as shown by the decreased number of fusion events. The most interesting in our results is the partial restoration by GLP-1 of the insulin secretion ability from high-glucose treated INS-1 832/13 cells. This improved insulin exocytosis is associated with partial restored actin dynamics and fusion events during the two phases of the secretion, with a preferential involvement of Epac2 signaling in the first phase and a rather involvement of PKA signaling in the second phase of insulin exocytosis. All these data provide some new insights into the mechanism by which current therapeutics may be improving insulin secretion.