β-cell deletion of the PKm1 and PKm2 isoforms of pyruvate kinase in mice reveal their essential role as nutrient sensors for the KATP channel
Abstract
Pyruvate kinase (PK) and the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) cycle play key roles in nutrient-stimulated KATP channel closure and insulin secretion. To identify the PK isoforms involved, we generated mice lacking β-cell PKm1, PKm2, and mitochondrial PEP carboxykinase (PCK2) that generates mitochondrial PEP. Glucose metabolism generates both glycolytic and mitochondrially-derived PEP, which triggers KATP closure through local PKm1 and PKm2 signaling at the plasma membrane. Amino acids, which generate mitochondrial PEP without producing glycolytic fructose 1,6-bisphosphate to allosterically activate PKm2, signal through PKm1 to raise ATP/ADP, close KATP channels, and stimulate insulin secretion. Raising cytosolic ATP/ADP with amino acids is insufficient to close KATP channels in the absence of PK activity or PCK2, indicating that KATP channels are primarily regulated by PEP that provides ATP via plasma membrane-associated PK, rather than mitochondrially-derived ATP. Following membrane depolarization, the PEP cycle is also involved in an 'off-switch' that facilitates KATP channel reopening and Ca2+ extrusion, as shown by PK activation experiments and β-cell PCK2 deletion, which prolongs Ca2+ oscillations and increases insulin secretion. In conclusion, the differential response of PKm1 and PKm2 to the glycolytic and mitochondrial sources of PEP influences the β-cell nutrient response, and controls the oscillatory cycle regulating insulin secretion.
Data availability
Datasets generated or analyzed in this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data files are provided for Figures 1-6 and the associated figure supplement files.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Institutes of Health (R01DK113103)
- Matthew J Merrins
National Institutes of Health (R01DK113103)
- Matthew J Merrins
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (I01B005113)
- Matthew J Merrins
Health Resources and Services Administration (T32HP10010)
- Hannah R Foster
National Institutes of Health (T32AG000213)
- Hannah R Foster
National Institutes of Health (T32DK007665)
- Sophie L Lewandowski
American Diabetes Association (1-17-PDF-155)
- Halena R VanDeusen
National Institutes of Health (R01AG062328)
- Matthew J Merrins
National Institutes of Health (R01DK127637)
- Richard G Kibbey
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: Animal experiments were conducted under the supervision of the IACUC of the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital (Protocol: MJM0001).
Copyright
© 2022, Foster et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 2,120
- views
-
- 464
- downloads
-
- 38
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Download links
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Further reading
-
- Cell Biology
Polynucleotide kinase phosphatase (PNKP) has enzymatic activities as 3′-phosphatase and 5′-kinase of DNA ends to promote DNA ligation and repair. Here, we show that cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) regulate the phosphorylation of threonine 118 (T118) in PNKP. This phosphorylation allows recruitment to the gapped DNA structure found in single-strand DNA (ssDNA) nicks and/or gaps between Okazaki fragments (OFs) during DNA replication. T118A (alanine)-substituted PNKP-expressing cells exhibited an accumulation of ssDNA gaps in S phase and accelerated replication fork progression. Furthermore, PNKP is involved in poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1)-dependent replication gap filling as part of a backup pathway in the absence of OFs ligation. Altogether, our data suggest that CDK-mediated PNKP phosphorylation at T118 is important for its recruitment to ssDNA gaps to proceed with OFs ligation and its backup repairs via the gap-filling pathway to maintain genome stability.
-
- Cell Biology
- Neuroscience
The emergence of Aβ pathology is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the mechanisms and impact of Aβ in progression of the disease is unclear. The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a multi-protein assembly in mammalian cells that regulates movement of macromolecules across the nuclear envelope; its function is shown to undergo age-dependent decline during normal aging and is also impaired in multiple neurodegenerative disorders. Yet not much is known about the impact of Aβ on NPC function in neurons. Here, we examined NPC and nucleoporin (NUP) distribution and nucleocytoplasmic transport using a mouse model of AD (AppNL-G-F/NL-G-F) that expresses Aβ in young animals. Our studies revealed that a time-dependent accumulation of intracellular Aβ corresponded with a reduction of NPCs and NUPs in the nuclear envelope which resulted in the degradation of the permeability barrier and inefficient segregation of nucleocytoplasmic proteins, and active transport. As a result of the NPC dysfunction App KI neurons become more vulnerable to inflammation-induced necroptosis – a programmed cell death pathway where the core components are activated via phosphorylation through nucleocytoplasmic shutting. Collectively, our data implicates Aβ in progressive impairment of nuclear pore function and further confirms that the protein complex is vulnerable to disruption in various neurodegenerative diseases and is a potential therapeutic target.