MicroRNAs 103 and 107 regulate insulin sensitivity.

Defects in insulin signalling are among the most common and earliest defects that predispose an individual to the development of type 2 diabetes. MicroRNAs have been identified as a new class of regulatory molecules that influence many biological functions, including metabolism. However, the direct regulation of insulin sensitivity by microRNAs in vivo has not been demonstrated. Here we show that the expression of microRNAs 103 and 107 (miR-103/107) is upregulated in obese mice. Silencing of miR-103/107 leads to improved glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. In contrast, gain of miR-103/107 function in either liver or fat is sufficient to induce impaired glucose homeostasis. We identify caveolin-1, a critical regulator of the insulin receptor, as a direct target gene of miR-103/107. We demonstrate that caveolin-1 is upregulated upon miR-103/107 inactivation in adipocytes and that this is concomitant with stabilization of the insulin receptor, enhanced insulin signalling, decreased adipocyte size and enhanced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. These findings demonstrate the central importance of miR-103/107 to insulin sensitivity and identify a new target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Allele-specific control of rodent and human lncRNA KMT2E-AS1 promotes hypoxic endothelial pathology in pulmonary hypertension.

Hypoxic reprogramming of vasculature relies on genetic, epigenetic, and metabolic circuitry, but the control points are unknown. In pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a disease driven by hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-dependent vascular dysfunction, HIF-2α promoted expression of neighboring genes, long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) histone lysine N-methyltransferase 2E-antisense 1 (KMT2E-AS1) and histone lysine N-methyltransferase 2E (KMT2E). KMT2E-AS1 stabilized KMT2E protein to increase epigenetic histone 3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3), driving HIF-2α-dependent metabolic and pathogenic endothelial activity. This lncRNA axis also increased HIF-2α expression across epigenetic, transcriptional, and posttranscriptional contexts, thus promoting a positive feedback loop to further augment HIF-2α activity. We identified a genetic association between rs73184087, a single-nucleotide variant (SNV) within a KMT2E intron, and disease risk in PAH discovery and replication patient cohorts and in a global meta-analysis. This SNV displayed allele (G)-specific association with HIF-2α, engaged in long-range chromatin interactions, and induced the lncRNA-KMT2E tandem in hypoxic (G/G) cells. In vivo, KMT2E-AS1 deficiency protected against PAH in mice, as did pharmacologic inhibition of histone methylation in rats. Conversely, forced lncRNA expression promoted more severe PH. Thus, the KMT2E-AS1/KMT2E pair orchestrates across convergent multi-ome landscapes to mediate HIF-2α pathobiology and represents a key clinical target in pulmonary hypertension.