TY - THES A1 - Aga-Barfknecht, Heja T1 - Investigation of the phenotype and genetic variant(s) of the diabetes locus Nidd/DBA N2 - Diabetes is a major public health problem with increasing global prevalence. Type 2 diabetes (T2D), which accounts for 90% of all diagnosed cases, is a complex polygenic disease also modulated by epigenetics and lifestyle factors. For the identification of T2D-associated genes, linkage analyses combined with mouse breeding strategies and bioinformatic tools were useful in the past. In a previous study in which a backcross population of the lean and diabetes-prone dilute brown non-agouti (DBA) mouse and the obese and diabetes-susceptible New Zealand obese (NZO) mouse was characterized, a major diabetes quantitative trait locus (QTL) was identified on chromosome 4. The locus was designated non-insulin dependent diabetes from DBA (Nidd/DBA). The aim of this thesis was (i) to perform a detailed phenotypic characterization of the Nidd/DBA mice, (ii) to further narrow the critical region and (iii) to identify the responsible genetic variant(s) of the Nidd/DBA locus. The phenotypic characterization of recombinant congenic mice carrying a 13.6 Mbp Nidd/DBA fragment with 284 genes presented a gradually worsening metabolic phenotype. Nidd/DBA allele carriers exhibited severe hyperglycemia (~19.9 mM) and impaired glucose clearance at 12 weeks of age. Ex vivo perifusion experiments with islets of 13-week-old congenic mice revealed a tendency towards reduced insulin secretion in homozygous DBA mice. In addition, 16-week-old mice showed a severe loss of β-cells and reduced pancreatic insulin content. Pathway analysis of transcriptome data from islets of congenic mice pointed towards a downregulation of cell survival genes. Morphological analysis of pancreatic sections displayed a reduced number of bi-hormonal cells co-expressing glucagon and insulin in homozygous DBA mice, which could indicate a reduced plasticity of endocrine cells in response to hyperglycemic stress. Further generation and phenotyping of recombinant congenic mice enabled the isolation of a 3.3 Mbp fragment that was still able to induce hyperglycemia and contained 61 genes. Bioinformatic analyses including haplotype mapping, sequence and transcriptome analysis were integrated in order to further reduce the number of candidate genes and to identify the presumable causative gene variant. Four putative candidate genes (Ttc39a, Kti12, Osbpl9, Calr4) were defined, which were either differentially expressed or carried a sequence variant. In addition, in silico ChIP-Seq analyses of the 3.3 Mbp region indicated a high number of SNPs located in active regions of binding sites of β-cell transcription factors. This points towards potentially altered cis-regulatory elements that could be responsible for the phenotype conferred by the Nidd/DBA locus. In summary, the Nidd/DBA locus mediates impaired glucose homeostasis and reduced insulin secretion capacity which finally leads to β-cell death. The downregulation of cell survival genes and reduced plasticity of endocrine cells could further contribute to the β-cell loss. The critical region was narrowed down to a 3.3 Mbp fragment containing 61 genes, of which four might be involved in the development of the diabetogenic Nidd/DBA phenotype. N2 - Die Diabetesprävalenz nimmt seit Jahren weltweit zu, wobei etwa 90% der diagnostizierten Diabeteserkrankungen einem Typ-2-Diabetes (T2D) zuzuordnen sind. T2D ist eine komplexe polygene Stoffwechselerkrankung, die auch durch epigenetische Faktoren und den Lebensstil beeinflusst wird. Die Identifizierung und Untersuchung von Diabetes-assoziierten Genen wird unter anderem durch Kopplungsanalysen und darauf aufbauende zuchtstrategische und bioinformatische Analysen ermöglicht. In einer vorangegangenen Studie wurde der schlanke, Diabetes-anfällige dilute brown non-agouti (DBA)-Mausstamm mit der adipösen und ebenfalls Diabetes-suszeptiblen New Zealand obese (NZO)-Maus verpaart und die erste Rückkreuzungsgeneration einer Kopplungsanalyse unterzogen. Hierbei wurde ein hoch signifikanter quantitative trait locus (QTL) für Diabetes auf Chromosom 4 nachgewiesen. Dieser Locus ist mit erhöhten Blutzuckerwerten, reduzierten Plasmainsulinkonzentrationen und einem niedrigen pankreatischen Insulingehalt assoziiert und wurde als Nidd/DBA (engl. für nicht insulinabhängiger Diabetes von DBA-Allelen) bezeichnet. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, (i) das kritische Fragment des Nidd/DBA-Locus‘ zu verkleinern, (ii) die phänotypische Ausprägung des Nidd/DBA-Locus‘ zu untersuchen sowie (iii) die ursächliche(n) genetische(n) Variante(n) zu identifizieren. Die phänotypische Charakterisierung von kongenen Mäusen mit einem kritischen Fragment von 13.6 Mbp, welches 284 Gene enthält, zeigte bereits im Alter von 12 Wochen eine starke Hyperglykämie (~19.9 mM) und eine unzureichende Glucose-Clearance bei Nidd/DBA-Allelträgern. Ex-vivo Perifusionsversuche mit isolierten Inseln von 13 Wochen alten kongenen Mäusen zeigten eine tendenziell reduzierte Insulinsekretion in homozygoten DBA-Allelträgern. Im Alter von 16 Wochen wiesen die Tiere einen erheblichen Verlust der β-Zellen, sowie eine Abnahme der pankreatischen Insulinkonzentration auf. Transkriptomdaten der Langerhans-Inseln mit anschließender Signalweganalyse deuteten darauf hin, dass Nidd/DBA-Allelträger eine verminderte Expression von Genen aufzeigen, die für das Überleben von Zellen essentiell sind. In homozygoten DBA-Allelträgern wurde eine reduzierte Anzahl von Glucagon/Insulin-bi-hormonellen Zellen nachgewiesen, was auf eine verminderte Plastizität der endokrinen Zellen hinweisen könnte. Die Zucht weiterer kongener Mäuse und ihre Phänotypisierung ermöglichten die Isolierung eines 3.3 Mbp großen Fragments, das 61 Gene enthielt und eine Hyperglykämie auslöste. Bioinformatische Analysen, wie die Kartierung von Haplotypen und Datenbank-, Sequenz- sowie Transkriptomanalysen, wurden integriert, um die Anzahl der Kandidatengene weiter zu reduzieren und die Hyperglykämie auslösende(n) Genvariante(n) zu identifizieren. Es konnten vier potentielle Kandidatengene (Ttc39a, Osbpl9, Kti12, Calr4) definiert werden, die entweder eine differenzielle Expression oder eine Sequenzvariante aufwiesen. Mit Hilfe von in-silico-Analysen von ChIP-Seq-Daten wurden SNPs in aktiven Bindungsstellen von β-Zell-Transkriptionsfaktoren identifiziert. Diese könnten cis-regulatorische Elemente darstellen, die Gene außerhalb dieses 3.3 Mbp großen Fragments beeinflussen und möglichweise für den Phänotyp verantwortlich sind. Zusammenfassend konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Nidd/DBA-Locus für eine beeinträchtigte Glucosehomöostase und eine Verschlechterung der Insulinsekretion verantwortlich ist, welche langfristig zum Verlust von β-Zellen führen. Die bisherigen Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass sowohl die verringerte Expression der für das Zellüberleben essentiellen Gene als auch eine verringerte Plastizität der endokrinen Zellen zum Untergang von Langerhans-Inseln beitragen. Das kritische Fragment wurde auf eine Größe von 3.3 Mbp mit 61 Genen reduziert, von denen vier Gene als verantwortliche Kandidaten für den beschriebenen Nidd/DBA-Phänotyp bedeutsam sein können KW - Diabetes KW - Genetics KW - Glucose intolerance KW - Insulin secretion KW - Susceptibility-genes KW - Diabetes KW - Genetik KW - Glukoseintoleranz KW - Insulinsekretion KW - Suszeptibilitätsgene Y1 - 2021 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kluth, Oliver A1 - Stadion, Mandy A1 - Gottmann, Pascal A1 - Aga-Barfknecht, Heja A1 - Jähnert, Markus A1 - Scherneck, Stephan A1 - Vogel, Heike A1 - Krus, Ulrika A1 - Seelig, Anett A1 - Ling, Charlotte A1 - Gerdes, Jantje A1 - Schürmann, Annette T1 - Decreased expression of cilia genes in pancreatic islets as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes in mice and humans JF - Cell reports N2 - An insufficient adaptive beta-cell compensation is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Primary cilia function as versatile sensory antennae regulating various cellular processes, but their role on compensatory beta-cell replication has not been examined. Here, we identify a significant enrichment of downregulated, cilia-annotated genes in pancreatic islets of diabetes-prone NZO mice as compared with diabetes-resistant B6-ob/ob mice. Among 327 differentially expressed mouse cilia genes, 81 human orthologs are also affected in islets of diabetic donors. Islets of nondiabetic mice and humans show a substantial overlap of upregulated cilia genes that are linked to cell-cycle progression. The shRNA-mediated suppression of KIF3A, essential for ciliogenesis, impairs division of MINE beta cells as well as in dispersed primary mouse and human islet cells, as shown by decreased BrdU incorporation. These findings demonstrate the substantial role of cilia-gene regulation on islet function and T2D risk. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.02.056 SN - 2211-1247 VL - 26 IS - 11 SP - 3027 EP - 3036 PB - Cell Press CY - Maryland Heights ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aga-Barfknecht, Heja A1 - Soultoukis, George A. A1 - Stadion, Mandy A1 - Garcia-Carrizo, Francisco A1 - Jähnert, Markus A1 - Gottmann, Pascal A1 - Vogel, Heike A1 - Schulz, Tim Julius A1 - Schürmann, Annette T1 - Distinct adipogenic and fibrogenic differentiation capacities of mesenchymal stromal cells from pancreas and white adipose tissue JF - International journal of molecular sciences N2 - Pancreatic steatosis associates with beta-cell failure and may participate in the development of type-2-diabetes. Our previous studies have shown that diabetes-susceptible mice accumulate more adipocytes in the pancreas than diabetes-resistant mice. In addition, we have demonstrated that the co-culture of pancreatic islets and adipocytes affect insulin secretion. The aim of this current study was to elucidate if and to what extent pancreas-resident mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with adipogenic progenitor potential differ from the corresponding stromal-type cells of the inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT). miRNA (miRNome) and mRNA expression (transcriptome) analyses of MSCs isolated by flow cytometry of both tissues revealed 121 differentially expressed miRNAs and 1227 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Target prediction analysis estimated 510 DEGs to be regulated by 58 differentially expressed miRNAs. Pathway analyses of DEGs and miRNA target genes showed unique transcriptional and miRNA signatures in pancreas (pMSCs) and iWAT MSCs (iwatMSCs), for instance fibrogenic and adipogenic differentiation, respectively. Accordingly, iwatMSCs revealed a higher adipogenic lineage commitment, whereas pMSCs showed an elevated fibrogenesis. As a low degree of adipogenesis was also observed in pMSCs of diabetes-susceptible mice, we conclude that the development of pancreatic steatosis has to be induced by other factors not related to cell-autonomous transcriptomic changes and miRNA-based signals. KW - MSCs KW - fatty pancreas KW - WAT KW - lineage commitment KW - transcriptomics KW - miRNAs Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23042108 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 23 IS - 4 PB - Molecular Diversity Preservation International CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aga-Barfknecht, Heja A1 - Hallahan, Nicole A1 - Gottmann, Pascal A1 - Jähnert, Markus A1 - Osburg, Sophie A1 - Schulze, Gunnar A1 - Kamitz, Anne A1 - Arends, Danny A1 - Brockmann, Gudrun A1 - Schallschmidt, Tanja A1 - Lebek, Sandra A1 - Chadt, Alexandra A1 - Al-Hasani, Hadi A1 - Joost, Hans-Georg A1 - Schürmann, Annette A1 - Vogel, Heike T1 - Identification of novel potential type 2 diabetes genes mediating beta-cell loss and hyperglycemia using positional cloning JF - Frontiers in genetics N2 - Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex metabolic disease regulated by an interaction of genetic predisposition and environmental factors. To understand the genetic contribution in the development of diabetes, mice varying in their disease susceptibility were crossed with the obese and diabetes-prone New Zealand obese (NZO) mouse. Subsequent whole-genome sequence scans revealed one major quantitative trait loci (QTL),Nidd/DBAon chromosome 4, linked to elevated blood glucose and reduced plasma insulin and low levels of pancreatic insulin. Phenotypical characterization of congenic mice carrying 13.6 Mbp of the critical fragment of DBA mice displayed severe hyperglycemia and impaired glucose clearance at week 10, decreased glucose response in week 13, and loss of beta-cells and pancreatic insulin in week 16. To identify the responsible gene variant(s), further congenic mice were generated and phenotyped, which resulted in a fragment of 3.3 Mbp that was sufficient to induce hyperglycemia. By combining transcriptome analysis and haplotype mapping, the number of putative responsible variant(s) was narrowed from initial 284 to 18 genes, including gene models and non-coding RNAs. Consideration of haplotype blocks reduced the number of candidate genes to four (Kti12,Osbpl9,Ttc39a, andCalr4) as potential T2D candidates as they display a differential expression in pancreatic islets and/or sequence variation. In conclusion, the integration of comparative analysis of multiple inbred populations such as haplotype mapping, transcriptomics, and sequence data substantially improved the mapping resolution of the diabetes QTLNidd/DBA. Future studies are necessary to understand the exact role of the different candidates in beta-cell function and their contribution in maintaining glycemic control. KW - type 2 diabetes KW - beta-cell loss KW - insulin KW - positional cloning KW - transcriptomics KW - haplotype Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2020.567191 SN - 1664-8021 VL - 11 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER -