ChREBP mediates glucose repression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha expression in pancreatic beta-cells.

Chronic exposure to elevated levels of glucose and fatty acids leads to dysfunction of pancreatic ß-cells by mechanisms that are only partly understood. The transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is an important regulator of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism and has been shown to protect against lipid-induced ß-cell dysfunction. We and others have previously shown that expression of the PPARα gene in ß-cells is rapidly repressed by glucose. Here we show that the PPARα gene is transcribed from five alternative transcription start sites, resulting in three alternative first exons that are spliced to exon 2. Expression of all PPARα transcripts is repressed by glucose both in insulinoma cells and in isolated pancreatic islets. The observation that the dynamics of glucose repression of PPARα transcription are very similar to those of glucose activation of target genes by the carbohydrate response element-binding protein (ChREBP) prompted us to investigate the potential role of ChREBP in the regulation of PPARα expression. We show that a constitutively active ChREBP lacking the N-terminal domain efficiently represses PPARα expression in insulinoma cells and in rodent and human islets. In addition, we demonstrate that siRNA-mediated knockdown of ChREBP abrogates glucose repression of PPARα expression as well as induction of well established ChREBP target genes in insulinoma cells. In conclusion, this work shows that ChREBP is a critical and direct mediator of glucose repression of PPARα gene expression in pancreatic ß-cells, suggesting that ChREBP may be important for glucose suppression of the fatty acid oxidation capacity of ß-cells.

PPARdelta is a fatty acid sensor that enhances mitochondrial oxidation in insulin-secreting cells and protects against fatty acid-induced dysfunction.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARdelta) is implicated in regulation of mitochondrial processes in a number of tissues, and PPARdelta activation is associated with decreased susceptibility to ectopic lipid deposition and metabolic disease. Here, we show that PPARdelta is the PPAR subtype expressed at the highest level in insulinoma cells and rat pancreatic islets. Furthermore, PPARdelta displays high transcriptional activity and acts in pronounced synergy with retinoid-X-receptor (RXR). Interestingly, unsaturated fatty acids mimic the effects of synthetic PPARdelta agonists. Using short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that the ability of unsaturated fatty acids to stimulate fatty acid metabolism is dependent on PPARdelta. Activation of PPARdelta increases the fatty acid oxidation capacity in INS-1E beta-cells, enhances glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) from islets, and protects GSIS against adverse effects of prolonged fatty acid exposure. The presented results indicate that the nuclear receptor PPARdelta is a fatty acid sensor that adapts beta-cell mitochondrial function to long-term changes in unsaturated fatty acid levels. As maintenance of mitochondrial metabolism is essential to preserve beta-cell function, these data indicate that dietary or pharmacological activation of PPARdelta and RXR may be beneficial in the prevention of beta-cell dysfunction.

Glucose-induced repression of PPARalpha gene expression in pancreatic beta-cells involves PP2A activation and AMPK inactivation.

Tight regulation of fatty acid metabolism in pancreatic beta-cells is important for beta-cell viability and function. Chronic exposure to elevated concentrations of fatty acid is associated with beta-cell lipotoxicity. Glucose is known to repress fatty acid oxidation and hence to augment the toxicity of fatty acids. The peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is a key activator of genes involved in beta-cell fatty acid oxidation, and transcription of the PPARalpha gene has been shown to be repressed by increasing concentrations of glucose in beta-cells. However, the mechanism underlying this transcriptional repression by glucose remains unclear. Here we report that glucose-induced repression of PPARalpha gene expression in INS-1E cells is independent of beta-cell excitation and insulin secretion but requires activation of protein phosphatase 2A in a process involving inactivation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Pharmacological activation of AMPK at high glucose concentrations interferes with glucose repression of PPARalpha and PPARalpha target genes in INS-1E cells as well as in rat islets. Specific knock-down of the catalytic AMPK-subunit AMPKalpha2 but not AMPKalpha1 using RNAi suppressed PPARalpha expression, thereby mimicking the effect of glucose. These results indicate that activation of protein phosphatase 2A and subsequent inactivation of AMPK is necessary for glucose repression of PPARalpha expression in pancreatic beta-cells.

Integrative Genomics Outlines a Biphasic Glucose Response and a ChREBP-RORγ Axis Regulating Proliferation in ß Cells.

Glucose is an important inducer of insulin secretion, but it also stimulates long-term adaptive changes in gene expression that can either promote or antagonize the proliferative potential and function of ß cells. Here, we have generated time-resolved profiles of enhancer and transcriptional activity in response to glucose in the INS-1E pancreatic ß cell line. Our data outline a biphasic response with a first transcriptional wave during which metabolic genes are activated, and a second wave where cell-cycle genes are activated and ß cell identity genes are repressed. The glucose-sensing transcription factor ChREBP directly activates first wave enhancers, whereas repression and activation of second wave enhancers are indirect. By integrating motif enrichment within late-regulated enhancers with expression profiles of the associated transcription factors, we have identified multiple putative regulators of the second wave. These include RORγ, the activity of which is important for glucose-induced proliferation of both INS-1E and primary rat ß cells.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) potentiates, whereas PPARgamma attenuates, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in pancreatic beta-cells.

Fatty acids (FAs) are known to be important regulators of insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells. FA-coenzyme A esters have been shown to directly stimulate the secretion process, whereas long-term exposure of beta-cells to FAs compromises glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) by mechanisms unknown to date. It has been speculated that some of these long-term effects are mediated by members of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) family via an induction of uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2). In this study we show that adenoviral coexpression of PPARalpha and retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRalpha) in INS-1E beta-cells synergistically and in a dose- and ligand-dependent manner increases the expression of known PPARalpha target genes and enhances FA uptake and beta-oxidation. In contrast, ectopic expression of PPARgamma/RXRalpha increases FA uptake and deposition as triacylglycerides. Although the expression of PPARalpha/RXRalpha leads to the induction of UCP2 mRNA and protein, this is not accompanied by reduced hyperpolarization of the mitochondrial membrane, indicating that under these conditions, increased UCP2 expression is insufficient for dissipation of the mitochondrial proton gradient. Importantly, whereas expression of PPARgamma/RXRalpha attenuates GSIS, the expression of PPARalpha/RXRalpha potentiates GSIS in rat islets and INS-1E cells without affecting the mitochondrial membrane potential. These results show a strong subtype specificity of the two PPAR subtypes alpha and gamma on lipid partitioning and insulin secretion when systematically compared in a beta-cell context.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ and C/EBPα synergistically activate key metabolic adipocyte genes by assisted loading.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα) are key activators of adipogenesis. They mutually induce the expression of each other and have been reported to cooperate in activation of a few adipocyte genes. Recently, genome-wide profiling revealed a high degree of overlap between PPARγ and C/EBPα binding in adipocytes, suggesting that cooperativeness could be mediated through common binding sites. To directly investigate the interplay between PPARγ and C/EBPα at shared binding sites, we established a fibroblastic model system in which PPARγ and C/EBPα can be independently expressed. Using RNA sequencing, we demonstrate that coexpression of PPARγ and C/EBPα leads to synergistic activation of many key metabolic adipocyte genes. This is associated with extensive C/EBPα-mediated reprogramming of PPARγ binding and vice versa in the vicinity of these genes, as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation combined with deep sequencing. Our results indicate that this is at least partly mediated by assisted loading involving chromatin remodeling directed by the leading factor. In conclusion, we report a novel mechanism by which the key adipogenic transcription factors, PPARγ and C/EBPα, cooperate in activation of the adipocyte gene program.

Differential effects of environmental chemicals and food contaminants on adipogenesis, biomarker release and PPARγ activation.

Eleven environmental relevant chemicals were investigated for their ability to affect adipogenesis in vitro, biomarker release from adipocytes and PPARα and γ activation. We found that butylparaben stimulated adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and increased release of leptin, adiponectin and resistin from the cells. Butylparaben activated PPARγ as well, which may be a mediator of the adipogenic effect. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)153 also stimulate adipogenesis and biomarker release, but did not affect PPARs. The data indicates that PPARγ activating chemicals often stimulate adipocyte differentiation although PPARγ activation is neither a requirement nor a guarantee for stimulation. Four out of the eleven chemicals (bisphenol A, mono-ethylhexyl phthalate, butylparaben, PCB 153) caused increased adipogenesis. The release of adipocyte-secreted hormones was sometimes but not always correlated with the effect on adipocyte differentiation. Eight chemicals were able to cause increased leptin release. These findings strengthen the hypothesis that chemicals can interfere with pathways related to obesity development.

Genome-wide profiling of liver X receptor, retinoid X receptor, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α in mouse liver reveals extensive sharing of binding sites.

The liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear receptors that form permissive heterodimers with retinoid X receptor (RXR) and are important regulators of lipid metabolism in the liver. We have recently shown that RXR agonist-induced hypertriglyceridemia and hepatic steatosis in mice are dependent on LXRs and correlate with an LXR-dependent hepatic induction of lipogenic genes. To further investigate the roles of RXR and LXR in the regulation of hepatic gene expression, we have mapped the ligand-regulated genome-wide binding of these factors in mouse liver. We find that the RXR agonist bexarotene primarily increases the genomic binding of RXR, whereas the LXR agonist T0901317 greatly increases both LXR and RXR binding. Functional annotation of putative direct LXR target genes revealed a significant association with classical LXR-regulated pathways as well as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathways, and subsequent chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing (ChIP-seq) mapping of PPARα binding demonstrated binding of PPARα to 71 to 88% of the identified LXR-RXR binding sites. The combination of sequence analysis of shared binding regions and sequential ChIP on selected sites indicate that LXR-RXR and PPARα-RXR bind to degenerate response elements in a mutually exclusive manner. Together, our findings suggest extensive and unexpected cross talk between hepatic LXR and PPARα at the level of binding to shared genomic sites.

MED14 tethers mediator to the N-terminal domain of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and is required for full transcriptional activity and adipogenesis.

The Mediator subunit MED1/TRAP220/DRIP205/PBP interacts directly with many nuclear receptors and was long thought to be responsible for tethering Mediator to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-responsive promoters. However, it was demonstrated recently that PPARgamma can recruit Mediator by MED1-independent mechanisms. Here, we show that target gene activation by ectopically expressed PPARgamma and PPARalpha is independent of MED1. Consistent with this finding, recruitment of PPARgamma, MED6, MED8, TATA box-binding protein (TBP), and RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) to the enhancer and proximal promoter of the PPARgamma target gene Fabp4 is also independent of MED1. Using a small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based approach, we identify MED14 as a novel critical Mediator component for PPARgamma-dependent transactivation, and we demonstrate that MED14 interacts directly with the N terminus of PPARgamma in a ligand-independent manner. Interestingly, MED14 knockdown does not affect the recruitment of PPARgamma, MED6, and MED8 to the Fabp4 enhancer but does reduce their occupancy of the Fabp4 proximal promoter. In agreement with the necessity of MED14 for PPARgamma transcriptional activity, we show that knockdown of MED14 impairs adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells. Thus, MED14 constitutes a novel anchoring point between Mediator and the N-terminal domain of PPARgamma that is necessary for functional PPARgamma-mediated recruitment of Mediator and transactivation of PPARgamma subtype-specific target genes.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha is a functional target of p63 in adult human keratinocytes.

p63 is a master switch in the complex network of signaling pathways controlling the establishment and maintenance of stratified epithelia. We provide evidence that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARalpha), a ligand-activated nuclear receptor that participates in the skin wound healing process, is a target of p63 in human keratinocytes. Silencing of p63 by RNA interference and transient transfections showed that p63 represses PPARalpha through a functional region of promoter B. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses indicate that p63 is bound to this region, in the absence of a recognizable p63-binding motif, suggesting that it acts through interactions with other transcription factors (TFs). Distinct PPARalpha transcripts are differentially regulated by p63, indicating a bimodal action in promoter and/or transcription start specification. PPARalpha repression is consistent with lack of expression in the interfollicular epidermis under physiological conditions. Furthermore, we show that PPARalpha is a negative regulator of DeltaNp63alpha levels and that it also binds to a functional region of the DeltaNp63 promoter that lacks PPRE motifs. Therefore, the reciprocal regulation is exerted either through binding to non-consensus sites or through interactions with other DNA-bound TFs. In conclusion, our data establish a link between two TFs intimately involved in the maintenance of skin homeostatic conditions.