Protection against lipoapoptosis of β cells through leptin-dependent maintenance of Bcl-2 expression

M Shimabukuro, MY Wang, YT Zhou… - Proceedings of the …, 1998 - National Acad Sciences
M Shimabukuro, MY Wang, YT Zhou, CB Newgard, RH Unger
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1998National Acad Sciences
Obesity causes its complications through functional and morphologic damage to remotely
situated tissues via undetermined mechanisms. In one rodent model of obesity, the Zucker
diabetic fatty fa/fa rat, overaccumulation of triglycerides in the pancreatic islets may be
responsible for a gradual depletion of β cells, leading to the most common complication of
obesity, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. At the onset of non-insulin-dependent
diabetes mellitus, the islets from fa/fa rats contain up to 100 times the fat content of islets …
Obesity causes its complications through functional and morphologic damage to remotely situated tissues via undetermined mechanisms. In one rodent model of obesity, the Zucker diabetic fatty fa/fa rat, overaccumulation of triglycerides in the pancreatic islets may be responsible for a gradual depletion of β cells, leading to the most common complication of obesity, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. At the onset of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, the islets from fa/fa rats contain up to 100 times the fat content of islets from normal lean rats. Ultimately, about 75% of the β cells disappear from these fat-laden islets as a consequence of apoptosis induced by long-chain fatty acids (FA). Here we quantify Bcl-2, the anti-apoptosis factor in these islets, and find that Bcl-2 mRNA and protein are, respectively, 85% and 70% below controls. In normal islets cultured in 1 mM FA, Bcl-2 mRNA declined by 68% and completely disappeared in fa/fa islets cultured in FA. In both groups, suppression was completely blocked by the fatty acyl-CoA synthetase inhibitor, triacsin C, evidence of its mediation by fatty acyl-CoA. To determine whether leptin action blocked FA-induced apoptosis, we cultured normal and fa/fa islets in 1 mM FA with or without leptin. Leptin completely blocked FA-induced Bcl-2 suppression in normal islets but had no effect on islets from fa/fa rats, which are unresponsive to leptin because of a mutation in their leptin receptors (OB-R). However, when wild-type OB-R is overexpressed in fa/fa islets, leptin completely prevented FA-induced Bcl-2 suppression and DNA fragmentation.
National Acad Sciences